Phantom of Zero
by darksoulmoo
Summary: The player character, after being left to protect the nexus for an innumerable amount of years gets summoned to Halkeginia. Chaos ensues as two worlds collide.
1. Chapter 1

**Demons Souls and Zero no Tsukaima belong to their respective owners, I own nothing! (Because if I did, I wouldn't be making fanfics of 'em)**

**Phantom of Zero**

**Chapter 1: Imprisonment **

_Soul of the lost, withdrawn from its vessel...  
_

_Let strength be granted so the world might be mended...  
_

_Soul of the lost, withdrawn from its vessel...  
_

_Let strength be granted so the world might be mended...  
_

_so the world might be mended..._

It hadn't been long since he had heard that voice. It hadn't been long since he once roamed the lands, slaying demon's and stealing their souls. He liked to believe that, but he knew that it was all a lie.

He was once the son of a noble, living in the outer lands of Boletaria. He lived a simple life, training in the arts of magic and practicing sword skill, looking to impress a princess of a foreign land.

He wished he could go back to such simple days...

It wasn't until he had heard of the tales of the plague of demons that roamed the lands of Boletaria, that his father had sent him off in search of glory and fame to be found.

Instead, the son found only death, destruction and despair as he walked through what was once a mighty kingdom, now only a place where soul starved men fought each other to keep their sanity.

He would've surely perished, if not for a gleaming light that had pulled him in, bringing him to where he now sat.

The Nexus.

This too, was a shade of its once former glory.

It had been more lively when he had come, though it was only populated by a small group. It once held heroes, great mages, wizards, witches and those who served the gods.

But once the demon horde was removed, they had all left, eager to get back to living the lives they once had.

But he didn't get that chance. For before putting the Old One to rest, the maiden had told him that someone must remain in the nexus to take care of it in her absence.

He was just never told how long that would absence would last.

For while time went on outside, his father died, his family swept away in the hold of time, he lived on.

Hidden away in a location no one would ever bother with again.

Tending to the candles and halls that were empty and so cold.

He now sat, staring down the deep hole to where the old one had once lay.

There wasn't much to do now, since all the arch stones were no longer active and he could not leave.

He could only stay, or go down.

It was always something that plagued his nightmares, what would happen if you'd go down? Why are you so scared? What do you fear?

Did he fear what would happen to the world above if he left, or would he fear the freedom he once was eager to have.

He wasn't sure himself, that he, the most powerful of all demons had to fear.

He sighed to himself, guessing that it was better then staring at nothing.

He jumped down, feeling adrenaline rush through him as the wind whipped around in the slits of his armor.

One thought entered his mind before he reached the light...

_"Maybe there will be a fight or two..."_

He had no idea what waited in store for him.

**A/N : Alright, there's the first part to this story, do know that this is my first time writing a fanfiction. So basically, the story takes place after Demons Souls good ending where the maiden ends up going to sleep with the Old One, and the character is just left to repeat. Decided to change it up a bit and have him be left to take care of the Nexus (I do believe that it does say he was a monumental after that, so I would presume him to remain there) but live on after everyone else dies (since the monumentals do live long periods of time if my memory isn't being bad. With this, he is then summoned by Louise, annnnnd I guess we'll see where it goes from there :3**

**So read and review! After all, this is my first fic and I need to know what I'm doing wrong or where I can improve. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Demons Souls and Zero no Tsukaima belong to their respective owners, I own nothing! (Because if I did, I wouldn't be making fanfics of 'em)**

**Phantom of Zero**

**Chapter 2: Summoning**

Now we go to the lands where people are not stuck in hundred years old ruins, or slaying demon's or dieing constantly.

Well, not too constantly at least.

The land of Tristan, Halkegninia, specifically being the Tristan Academy of Magic.

Today at the academy, (the day being one of their elements, Day of Water) second year students were required to summon a familiar, creatures that were then bound to them and would serve them until death.

One of the students, being Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, a pinkette who while being one of the highest graded individuals in the academy, failed at one important subject.

Magic.

What kinds of magic you might ask?

_All_ magic, fire, wind, water, earth, defensive, offensive, support and what not, none of them worked, only resulting in explosions and the earning of her nickname, Zero.'

Which was part of the reason why she was so nervous.

In this land, the more powerful the mage tended to get more powerful and larger summons.

Such could be true in some cases, such as that loud, obnoxious Zerbst girl and her salamander of the Fire Mountains in Germania, or the queit and cold Tabitha and her wind dragon.

So it brought to her attention, that she, failure of magic and what not would probably summon something considerably less than those and was just hoping that she could anything in the end.

Ignoring the laughter and jeers of her classmates, she summoned up the last of her courage and pride and _begged_ for _anything_ to appear, she couldn't care if it was a cat or dog, just something to show she was not a failure.

To say the least, none of them would have any idea how powerful her familiar would be.

**...**

_**... somewhere else...**_

He wasn't quite sure where he was.

After jumping down the hole and feeling the wind around him, everything had suddenly... stopped.

There was no wind, no light, no nothing.

Just darkness, like an abyss.

He didn't remember the lair of the Old One to be this, he in fact remembered a quiet beach, where rolling waves would calm and soothe the soul.

Certainly not a abyss of darkness and nothingness.

It was actually, nostalgic of his summoning to the Nexus, where he was wandering through a place of darkness until the light of the maiden and monumentals had found him.

He couldn't see, nor hear anything in this abyss.

Just where was he?

He scanned his memory for locations, anywhere that this could be...

But he couldn't find anything other then his memory of being summoned.

Why would he be back here?

_"My servant that existed somewhere in this vast universe..."_

A voice? It definitely did not sound like anyone he knew.

His brain was racing to identify where he was, what was going on and who that voice was.

It suddenly dawned on him...

A summoning? But to where, if that was the case? The only reason he had been summoned in the first place was to fight the demons and they were eliminated when the Old One returned to slumber.

_"...beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call..."_

He was certain this was another summoning, but by who or what he had no clue.

Wasn't this what he wanted? To be free of his prison, the Nexus?

_"...I wish from the very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear..."_

He could see something in the distance, a pillar of green light.

He ran to it, trying to as close as possible but the light had danced around him instead, avoiding him and causing him to growl in annoyance.

If you wanted to summon a demon god, then here he is. No need to torment him any further.

_"...bring forth...my familiar!_

His sight was suddenly blinded, as the pillar grew into a portal and summoned him whole.

**...**

Louise was saddened as her attempt at summoning ended in another of her trademark explosions.

Everything had gone so right, but in the end...

"Ha! Nice try Zero!" "As usual, Zero expectations!"

She couldn't hold her tears back as laughter and rude comments erupted behind her, both them and the black smoke that stung at her eyes. She feel to the ground on her behind and thought to herself what would happen next. Expulsion, being sent back to her mother and likely being banished out of her family for being a failure.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and found her self looking into the pitying eyes of her teacher, Mr. Colbert.

He sighed to himself, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "Miss Valliere, I'm afraid that we must go to the headmaster to see what happens next." She opened her mouth for a response, only to find herself inhaling the smoke around her. She turned around, coughing and wheezing.

"Oh yes, let me do something about that..." Colbert stated, and with a turn of his staff, a breeze spread through the courtyard, lifting away the black smoke that was once there before.

Louise had finally righted herself and after glancing at the crowd behind her, turned again to her summoning circle.

Or at least the large crater that she presumed had once been it.

She walked on shaking legs towards it, ignoring the whispers of her class mates and the voice of her teacher.

She just had to be sure.

She didn't expect an armored hand to reach out from the crater and pull her down in to the same crater.

**A/N: Alright, here's another chapter of this story, probably will be pumping out these stories rather quickly. Discussing what's in this chapter, I believe that one or a couple of people had used the elements of Halkegninia as their week days. Not sure if it like that in canon or someone had just thought it up. The player character ends up in an abyss like location where he was first summoned by the Maiden in black, so that's where he gets the reminder of that location from. I guess we'll where this goes next, though I will likely start typing out the next chapter right after this. Aright then, please review and thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Demons Souls and Zero no Tsukaima belong to their respective owners, I own nothing! (Because if I did, I wouldn't be making fanfics of 'em)**

**Phantom of Zero**

**Chapter 3: Misunderstandings **

To be honest, he wasn't sure what the heck was going on.

The strange light had continued to avoid him had instead been a portal and had basically swallowed him whole as a dragon from the lands of Lordran had in his previous life. He found himself face down in the dirt in what seemed to be...

..a crater?

What kind of summoning was this?

He had surely been summoned into some strange scenarios previously, without a doubt.

He definitely had, through all his adventures through many different lands. Waking up prisoner in the lands of Lordran only to begin another crazy journey to smite demons had definitely showed him anything can happen. But to end up face down in a crater not of his cause with black smoke all around him had to be a bad sign.

So he instead remained down and listened to what seemed to be ...laughter?

Were they laughing at him? The Demon God of untold death and destruction?

How the mighty have fallen it seems.

He could also hear the sobs of a young female and possibly the voice of a male of older age.

The only problem was he could only hear them speaking in some weird tongue.

He couldn't figure out any language they were talking, at least of the lands he had explored. Had he been summoned somewhere outside of his lands? Such a thing was uncommon in all his times of summons, only his summoning to Lordran barring that.

But without a moments notice, the smoke was swept away, leaving him clear as day lying in the crater.

If this was some sort of hostile summon, it would end bad for most normal folks.

Except he was a demon god of unprecedented power. In his case, probably bad for the people on the opposite side.

Listening closely, he could hear the crunching of grass growing nearer and steeled himself for potential combat.

The figure grew near, but with the sun blocking out his/her/it's figure could not see much. He opted to grab the figures leg to get a better view of them.

The person yet out a short yelp before tumbling down into his arms, where he could finally get a look at them. To his relief, it was a human that was not crazy and/nor sprouting out a bunch of moans and groans and trying to swat at him with broken swords. It was a female of... likely young age judging by her figure. Her eyes were pink, which also matched her outlandish pink hair.

Seriously! Pink. Hair.

Instead of focusing on crazy hair styles of this possibly unknown land, he quickly put his hand over the poor girls mouth to make sure she didn't start alerting her possibly mad or crazy friends above. Probably too late for that.

He heard more gibberish.

_Well,_ he thought to himself,_ time to make an impression on the locals._

With that, he crawled up the crater, with the pinkette in his arms, only to be met with what looked like a large group of angry mages.

Well, this will prove to be interesting.

**...**

Colbert wasn't sure what had happened, frankly. His student, Miss Valliere could not get any magic right, no matter how much they tried. As much as he hated to do this to the poor girl, it was the rules of a 6000 year old tradition.

The girl had instead walked over to the crater and was suddenly yanked down out of sight.

Just what yanked her down? While he had not looked into the crater yet, he had presumed there to be nothing in it. Any wild creature would have already made its presence known.

So as he crept over to the crater, students behind him watching in anticipation...

Creeping...

Creeping...

He could hear something below, almost like... armor?

Clanking it sounded like.

"Hello?" He tentatively called out.

Another sound of movement.

It was coming up.

He backed up, readying himself for what could be a dangerous creature who would attack his students.

Certain students behind him tensed up as well, wondering what could make their professor so nervous.

He was a couple feet from the crater when a armored hand appeared, gripping on to the edges of crater, before a flash of pink hair had come first.

Miss Valliere was currently being held in front of some sort of armored individual. He could see a sword sheathed on the side of his armor, but couldn't identify anything else on the man that could be used as a weapon.

The man was in what looked like standard knight attire, steel armor, fluted helm and what not. He did note that there seemed to be no coat of arms or anything to distinguish where the individual might hail from.

"Sir, I'm going to ask once to put down my student." His old military self was taking over. He was going give this man hell if he thought he could get away with harming his student.

His answer? A bunch of gibberish he could not understand.

A foreigner maybe?

He pointed his staff forward, seeking to cast a translation spell.

The figure took that as a hostile action, tossing the girl roughly to his right and pulling out his sword and a small circular object.

_"Probably should have explained to him some how." _Colbert thought as he readied a spell enchant on his lips. Too late to back down now.

**...**

The moment the bald mage had pointed his catalyst towards him, he found himself going into combat mode, tossing the girl to his left and pulling out his sword and his own Talisman of Beasts.

The talisman, said to be resembling the Old One was an particularly interesting catalyst. It allowed him to cast any type of magic, whether soul magic of his own land or the magic of Lordran. It allowed him greater power with his magic's, not to mention easier to use then switching back and forth between miracle, magic and pyromancy catalysts.

The target in front of him seemed to begin a chant of some sort, before letting loose a large burst of flames in his direction.

_'A pyromancer it seems...' _The spell was enough to dodge, but he the noticed more trouble.

The mages behind the older one had seen fit to join the battle too, each chanting something and brandishing their own catalysts. He ducked quickly, avoiding a large amount of sharpened ice pellets and another burst of fire magic from two girls behind the old one, each a respectively notable hue of hair color.

He brought his own talisman forth, deciding the spell on which to use on these mages. Choosing his spell, Soul Ray, he thrust the spell forward, the spell flying outwards targeting the older mans staff. Said figure raised to block the unknown object, only to find his staff bursting into splinters as the spell tore through it.

_'That might be a good idea, disarming them..' _While he wasn't sure their intentions, he had no reason to kill them as of yet. He really should have thought about that before attacking. He had no means of honestly surrendering and that's if they would even care if he did.

He rolled again, dodging a tentacle of water that another of the students had summoned and sprinted forward to the nearest mage, the red headed girl with... _'Don't focus on that...' _and grabbing the wand out of her hands. She shouted something out in gibberish, trying to grab out for her wand, only to find the armored figure moving on.

His next target was the small blue headed girl, who seemed to realize he was coming for her and whistled for the large blue drake next to her.

The dragon roared, charging towards me, likely aiming to for my torso but missing as I jumped back. It seemed to glare at me, and charged yet again. I moved to dodge out of the way, only to find my feet stuck in place.

I looked down only to find my feet incased in ice. _'Clever girl...' _I thought, only to find myself being hit by a couple tons of dragon. I slid across the grass and found myself staring up at the bright blue sky.

More gibberish could be heard around me as I stood up, leaping towards the girl and grabbing her staff, surprising both the dragon and the blue headed girl. The girl stared up at him in shock, only to nod to something behind me

I turned quickly, only to find myself in a dark space, that was wet and... smelly?

He was currently stuck in the dragons mouth.

Probably not the best place to be.

**...**

Louise at first was ecstatic to find that she had successfully summoned something, only to find herself getting grabbed roughly, treated roughly and then thrown aside like some doll. Just who did this familiar think he was, treating a Valliere like that!

Of course, she couldn't say anything now after witnessing the familiar disarm three triangle class mages.

Said familiar was now stuck in a dragons mouth.

"Miss Valliere!" She turned around to find her professor grabbing her roughly by the shoulders. This is no way for her to be treated dang it!

"Miss Valliere, we need you to bind your familiar now, before it gets out of hand." She could see Colbert was serious about this. Then again she definitely agreed with him. The dragon was now having trouble keeping the armored being in its mouth as it shook around like a banshee, trying to escape its temporary prison.

"Alright Miss Tabitha, on the count of three..." Colbert began to count down, she barely had any time to ready herself when the being was spit out, the mages quickly raising their wands incase the familiar tried anything else.

The familiar seemed to get the point this time, sitting still and glancing around at the assembled students. She stepped forward when the man let out another string of gibberish.

"Sir, should we cast a translation spell on this.. thing?" One of the students asked out. To be frank, no one knew what it was. It looked human, but it had taken down three mages in seconds. No one should be able to do so. Colbert gave a quick nod, one of the students behind the familiar quickly casting the spell then hiding amongst the crowd.

This time, the words the figure spoke could finally be understood, except it was a long string of cussing and insults that would make a sailor blush.

She chose this time to jump forward, barely muttering an enchant before opening the mans visor and kissing him on the lips.

The being stared at her for a couple of seconds, before muttering to himself about wearing certain armors in crowds of crazy mages.

"Someone want to explain just what kind of summoning this is?" What? This man knew about the summoning? Had he summoned before? Did that mean he was a noble? She did see him use some strange magic earlier to disarm Mr. Colbert. Please don't be a noble...

Colbert then took that as his cue to explain just what was going. "Sir, you have been summoned to the Tristan Academy of Magic to be the familiar of Miss Valliere here, but..." Colbert finished off. This man surely had no place in being a familiar, some sort of strange, powerful warrior.

Her familiar stared at him for a moment, but then began to grab his hand, growls of what seemed to be pain coming from him.

"What...what is this..." The man had managed to get out, before falling onto his back, showing that he had fainted.

Colbert sighed to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Can someone go get the headmaster please?"

**A/N: Alright, so there we have the summoning scene. If you wanted to know why I had them fight, I wanted to test out a different style of writing, but I do realize that it may not have fit in with the story. You may have also noticed that my character has mentioned Lordran, the location where Dark Souls, sequel to Demons Souls takes place. No, he is not the chosen undead, but he has been summoned there before and thus has learned of its magic. Possibly might pull in weapons/armor since Dark souls did have a larger collection, which would be nice to include. Next off we have the revelations of what's going on with our unfortunate player character and the building up to the unfortunate Guiche stomp (yes, we have to go there).**

**Please review and thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Demons Souls and Zero no Tsukaima belong to their respective owners, I own nothing! (Because if I did, I wouldn't be making fanfics of 'em)**

**Phantom of Zero**

**Chapter 4: Strange Land**

_...multiple lacerations...burn wounds all over...how does he have so many injuries?_

Colbert overlooked the slowly growing group of water mages. What they had thought been a minor case of the man fainting turned more serious when they discovered the wounds upon the man.

There was so many on one person, it was horrifying to see. Dried blood was smeared along his torso, a massive tear from his left waist to his right collar bone, a couple puncture wounds darted thought his whole body.

It was something Colbert had wished to never see again.

It definitely fixed the image of this man being a knight, you obviously do get some injuries over the time of serving, but this man had an unnatural amount of them. No human being could go through this much torture and keep waling. He was amazed that there was no lost limbs, nothing.

Taking a look over the man, he seemed to be of height 5" 11, just a bit taller then he himself was. The man had pasty white skin, almost ghostly like, with raven black, bowl shaped hair. His head was heart shaped, small fore head with a squared jaw. Glimpses of his eye color were that they were a cold, blue-gray like color.

His body itself was tall, skinny but well muscled. Wounds of all types littered his body, no matter where you looked there was something that showed of his previous life.

The man had been in the infirmary for two days as of now and showed no signs of waking up. It had seemed that Miss Valliere did end up successfully bounding it to her, judging by the runes upon his right hand.

During his time of waiting, he had gone and examined the mans equipment. Looking for any sort of marking to determine where he had come from, but his research provided no answers. The sword was a basic long sword, but seemed much more hardy and strong compared to a soldier of Tristan would use. The strangest thing was the small wand that he had used in the fight. He had remembered the magic that very few of the other students probably saw, but this wand seemed different from theirs.

Trying to test it out funded no results, and he could not find any sort of on it. It was shaped like a pinecone, crispy gold in color with a small chain hanging off the bottom.

All in all, the man seemed to not be from the continent of Halkegenia, so it was possible that perhaps Miss Valliere had summoned someone from outside the known region, maybe even farther then the elves territory.

**...**

Elsewhere, our other protagonist Louise was currently sitting in her room, wondering about the situation with her familiar. While she had succeeded in branding it, she had doubts it would follow her commands.

Not to mention it had attacked three other mages of the academy and that the responsibility of the familiar also falls upon the master.

She sighed to herself, why couldn't anything ever work for her?

Once a zero, always a zero she supposed.

Of course, nothing could be done now, with her familiar currently resting in the infirmary. The headmaster had chosen to speak with her and her familiar if possible, when he awoke.

If he didn't start attacking people again.

Her thoughts wandered back to the fight in the courtyard between her familiar and the other mages. As much as she hated to admit, she knew Kirche was no slouch when it came to magic, being labeled as a triangle class mage. The same applied to both her professor and Kirche's friend, Tabitha.

Just how did the warrior manage to defeat them? He couldn't have been trying, he wasn't even trying to kill them.

She wondered what would of happened if her familiar chose to kill instead of disabling his opponents.

Such a thing cannot be human, to fight against three mages with nothing more then a sword and win, somewhat

She yawned to herself, figuring that she might as well rest. Nothing good would come out of staying awake all night.

She changed into her nightgown and fell into her warm and soft bed, sleep claiming her rather quickly.

_**...**_

Back to the infirmary, our demon slayer was currently in a deep sleep.

Or so anyone watching would think.

He wasn't sure why these people had accommodated him, he did attack them after all.

Maybe our demon slayer chose the wrong choice.

...negative karma added...

What? What strange thought was that?

Pushing away his consciences strange thoughts, he wandered back to his current predicament.

From what he had picked up from conversations between healers, he had in fact been summoned by someone known as Louise. They were also talking about branding, which might have related to the searing pain he felt before he fainted.

He did also note that the magic they were using felt much different then the normal miracle healing spells. What strange type of magic did they use in this land?

He also had determined that they had stripped him of all his belongings. While he could just summon theme back into his possession, he decided to stay cool for now.

He didn't need any other reasons to slaughter to local populace.

Or getting stuck in the maw of a dragon.

Such are the woes of being a main character.

The land itself, was much different then what he was used to.

Instead of gray, howling skies, or grim dark clouds shifting through the land, it was instead cool, calming baby blue.

He hadn't seen the sky like that since before the plague.

He wasn't sure where he was, or what would happen.

But in the end, this was what he had wished for. To be from his prison.

He could at least thank the summoner for doing that.

He supposed he could wait until morning until he finally awoke, opting to remain nestled in the comfy, infirmary bed.

_**...**_

_...dreams of Louise..._

_She wasn't sure where she was._

_She couldn't control herself and was walking through what seemed to be the ruin of a castle._

_What strange dream was she having?_

_She noted that her body was more sluggish and taller then what she was in reality._

_She finally reached the end of the tunnel, getting a glimpse at the location she was in._

_The ruins of what was probably once a proud castle were scattered around her, nature seeping in through cracks in the walls. The sky was a dull gray and she could see dark clouds looming in the distance ominously._

_Groans could be heard from around the corner, and she again found herself moving against her will. She peeked around the corner, and saw what seemed to be a beggar in cloths armed with a sword._

_Moving yet again, she approached the figure, and when she thought to say hello, the beggar turned quickly, slamming the sword into her torso and plunging through flesh._

_Or that's what she thought would happen. Instead she had raised her shield, slamming the sword out of the mans hand and stabbed the man through the neck. The man looked at her, before crumbling to the floor, blood spurting out of the wound._

_She was disgusted, why had the man attacked her? For what reason? What was going on?_

_She didn't know how use a sword! This definitely wasn't her!_

_But she could do nothing, she knew she was dreaming but could not wake up._

_Moving once again, she wandered into a large glowing room, where a large cauldron was found in the center._

_More heavily armed figures approached__ to attack her, only to be struck down in a multitude of fancy sword techniques she had never before seen._

_Panting lightly, she glanced around and noticed what seemed to be a white mist blocking the only way out of the tunnel._

_So did the armored figure, who reached out into the mist and walked through it._

_Then was almost cut in half by an axe with a head as long as her. The creature raised its axe again and showed itself in all its glory._

_It had a couple glowing eyes, two horns jutting out of its head. It entire body was grey and was immensely large. _

_She found herself rolling again, aiming to attack the beast with her sword. She was horrified yet again when the sword merely bounced off the creatures side._

_The creature looked down at her like an executioner much would, before bring the axe down upon her, cutting her in two._

_She screamed in agony as she felt herself slipping away, the pain to much for her to bear._

_And so Louise dreamed of a land where demons roamed and men fought against them in order to keep their sanity._

_**...**_

...morning in the infirmary...

Another day in the office as healers strode through the space, tending to the injured and sick.

There was just one patient they were avoiding.

The familiar had finally awoken, but instead of going on a rampage in nothing but some briefs, he had instead chose to stay in the bed and stare at everything.

It unnerved the heck out of all of them and when one had went to offer a glass of water, the man had continued staring at him.

Which is what he was currently doing now.

It was just that he was honestly curious about these people and his surroundings. Things like an infirmary were a rare thing in his homeland, at least as big as this.

He could hear footsteps coming from down the hall as he continued to observe his surroundings. They continued, getting louder and louder and more numerous with each passing second.

More healers maybe?

Instead, he found himself looking at a black robed man with an amazing beard.

It would put Sage Freke to shame.

He also noticed the bald man he had fought against yesterday, the pink head he had tossed to the ground and a woman with green hair.

Everything about these people was weird.

The man in bed and the long bearded man took a couple seconds to stare at each other, each similarly staring much like a predator would to prey.

To say that there were multiple wands pointed at the injured man in the room would be no surprise.

The man in bed chose to spoke first.

"Can someone please tell me what's going?" Honestly, the question was something both parties wanted answers to.

The demon slayer as to where he was summoned and the school academy as to what the heck was with this man.

"You sir, have been summoned to Tristan Magic Academy to be the familiar of the young girl here, Louise." The bearded man said, gesturing to the pink headed girl to his side, who let out a small 'eep' before shuffling behind him.

Familiar? What kind of strange term was that? The common term in his land was phantom. He chose to question him on this.

"What do you mean by the term familiar? Have you not ever summoned before?" He stated, were these people new to the process or something? Many tales had been spoken about the process after all.

Everyone else in the room took a moment to go wide eyed, each regarding the man in the bed even more strangely.

The bearded man took a second to gather his thoughts, before realizing something. "You say that like you have summoned before, are you a noble by any chance?"

Noble? What did anything about being a noble had to with this? During the conflict, everyone was able to summon as long as they were alive. Peasant, soldier, assassin, mages, he had been summoned by all.

"Well, I once was a noble, but I no longer am. Or at least I don't think I am. But what does that have to do with the summon?" It was also possible that these people might be some cult of religious maniacs who only summon under certain rules. Hopefully that wasn't the case.

The group of possibly crazy religious individuals continued to stare at the man like had he grown two heads. Which actually could happen since he could manipulate a small space around him with all the power he had gained.

Nope, that wasn't the case.

He turned back to stare at the group when the bearded man spoke again. "So you have summoned before? Doesn't that mean you should know that only nobles can summon familiars?" There was that strange term again. Familiar? The term in his land was "phantoms" with each color regarding a certain phantom.

Blue was a friendly phantom, beings who would assist you in your quest in order to regain there living bodies.

Red was a black phantom, those who would seek you out in order to regain their humanity or soul back through combat.

While there were more colors, they were more covenants with the gods who summoned naturally to serve them, each with different reasons.

"What do you mean by familiar dear mage? Surely you mean phantom?" The room had again gone silent. Maybe these people were new to the summoning business.

The bearded man open and closed his mouth a few times, before shaking his head, finally gathering his thoughts.

_**...**_

The assembled group had ended up remaining in the infirmary for a few more hours.

The demon slayer, who was actually named Christian, explained his background and answered the questions of the small group, Colbert taking great interest, grabbing a quill and scroll and writing down all Christian had said.

The head master, Old Osmond had explained to him that instead of the summoning of his homeland, he was summoned to a distant region, called Halkeginia. Christian had then found out that he was far from the lands of his home, not even being able to identify the region, even on a world map.

Such a thing was daunting indeed.

It seemed all in the room had figured out that the summoning had somehow drew Christian towards their realm, bypassing all known facts about the rules regarding how summons were actually taken.

Then again, this was the first time a human being had been summoned as a familiar in six thousand years.

It was nearing dusk, after many cups of coffee were drunk and the sun was setting in the horizon. It was now they had to decide what would now happen.

"So sir knight Christian, where will you go now? We can offer you a small sum of gold to start your new life here, but not much other then that. Or, you could remain here and be the familiar of Louise, I'm sure she would take good care of you." Christian had gone silent for a few moments, before deciding that it was better off remaining here since he had already made some new friends.

Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, the small pink haired girl who he had apologized for treating so roughly and thanked for the summon.

Jean Colbert, a triangle class fire mage and teacher at the academy who was eager to gather the knowledge of his land.

Miss Longueville, a friendly yet quiet secretary who also seemed interested of the land he lived in.

And finally Old Osmond, headmaster of the academy and strongly reminded him of Sage Freke.

Louise was happy that the man had wanted to be her familiar, but then realized this was nothing that she expected to summon. It wasn't some stupid creature that would follow her every command, it was a human being that had knowledge greater then the head master and was as strong as a triangle class mage.

"Well that's great to hear then! I'll relay the word to the academy that you are now allowed on premises. But do note, please do not harm any of the other students. We'd hate for any other problems to occur." Osmond was rather happy the man would remain. He seemed to truly be an interesting individual, and would enjoy his company in the future.

To Christian, it was hard to regain the confidence in speaking to others. It had been awhile since he had ever talked to someone but he welcomed back the company of others. He didn't know what would await him in his journey, but he didn't care. He was finally free of Boletaria and was now starting a new adventure. Whether it would be anything like his old journey, he was unsure of. The fact that he wasn't some omni potent demon god in the eyes in these people already lifted his spirits. A clean slate, something he never imagined would happen.

He just never knew how out of control this journey would end up being.

**A/N: Okie dokie, the ending might have ended off a bit strange, so if it comes off to anyone like that I do apologize. I might have to end up re-writing it if some other agree with me, but it might just be me being picky. Again, be on the lookout for any grammar errors, English is not my first language so I might end up looking over something that might not sound proper. Story notes, the character when summoned was just wearing the fluted armor of Demons Souls, nothing fancy as of yet. I also have decided that I will be pulling in weapon/armor/magic/etc from Dark Souls since From expanded much more on the item range in Dark Souls vs Demons Souls. He was summoned to Lordran as a phantom to the chosen undead, or that's at least my explanation for my voidhaxx. Along the lines of weapons he had equipped, it was a basic long sword upgraded to max along the normal path and the Talisman of Beasts.**

**Along the lines of character stats, the character stats are a mix in of both the stat system of Dark Souls and Demons Souls.**

**The stats follow:**

**Vitality : Governs total health and item burden (though item burden has been removed from this story, since I prefer the hold everything in my pockets Dark Souls)**

**Attunement: Spell power and Mana (yes, bringing back mana from Demons Souls instead of the limited casting of Dark Souls, since magic in Dark Souls is only refreshed at bonfires and I didn't want to bullshit some more)**

**Endurance: Stamina (which isn't going to be included for story sake)**

**Strength: Physical damage increase**

**Dexterity: Physical damage increase, defense and resistances (magic, fire, lightning, poison etc)**

**Faith: Miracle power up**

**Also, there's no difference between the schools of Pyromancy, miracles and standard magic, all will be considered one for this story. Simply because I didn't want to have my character need minimum of three different catalysts to cast all the magics.**

**My character knows all types of magic, from both Dark and Demons Souls. **

**Since I don't want to drag the author's notes on forever, just send me a PM if you got a question and I'll try to answer to the best of my abilities.**

**Also note, in response to one of the reviews, I will try to increase the length of each chapter.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Demons Souls and Zero no Tsukaima belong to their respective owners, I own nothing! (Because if I did, I wouldn't be making fanfics of 'em)**

**Phantom of Zero**

**Chapter 5: First Day in Halkeginia**

_...Louise's room..._

Back into the lives of our two protagonist's, we are now awaiting for Miss Valliere to awaken from her slumber.

Christian, resident demon slayer, familiar, heretic, god, mage and many other titles was currently staring out the window, listening to the soft snores of his master.

He was currently thinking over everything he had told these people in the infirmary. He had told them he was a royal of the lands of Boletaria who was once summoned to fight the demon hordes. He told them he was just a simple knight caught up in a tight spot.

Did he give them anything too important?

While he was happy that he was some where else, he didn't need anyone to find out so quickly about his homeland. If they somehow got him here, what's to say that they can't find someway to reverse the process?

Then again, they'd probably just get stuck in the Nexus.

He was also taking noting of the different creatures that were found through out the academy. A large python like snake that slithered across the grasses, a couple of strange birds that sat upon the walls and perches. Even a strange looking eye thing that had caught a glimpse of him.

The two had a rather long staring contest of course.

Thinking to his current predicament, Christian was trying to figure out how to wake up his master with out getting beaten up in the process, or accidentally breaking one of her limbs.

His sister back when he was younger had put the fear of god into him when she once sent his head through a wall when he woke her up too early.

Yes, the almighty demon slayer was afraid of a small girl in her bed.

So he chose the safest route possible, taking out one of his longest spears and poking her with the dull side.

He still failed at doing so, since apparently people don't like having spears pointed at them when they woke up.

He'd been woken up lots of times that way and sometimes the situations following that were worse. You didn't hear him complaining!

So after a very boring lecture from his master, he was shooed out into the hall way where he now played the role of a guard.

He was so busy staring down the wall that he didn't notice the salamander with a flaming tail creep up beside him.

"Oh son of a-" He managed to get out, not another one of _these_ things.

"Flame! There you are!" He turned to find... oh, this girl. The one with the very busty chest and another strange hair color.

"Oh~, found a new play mate have you Flame?" She was probably talking about how the salamander was now crawling on the ceiling, staring at him with green, orb like eyes.

"Miss, if I could please ask, could you remove this... thing from the ceiling?" It honestly made him uncomfortable, reminding him of those damn lava salamanders that inhabited Stonefang Mine.

"Please sir, it's not an it, his name is Flame, salamander of the great Fire Mountains!" The girl let out, throwing her arms out for extra emphasize, before latching onto his arm, apparently trying to draw it closer to her chest.

"Miss..." He got out, before the girl seemed to realize, removing herself from his arm.

"My name is Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst, pleased to meet you..." She gave a short curtsy.

Christian let out a small bow, before giving her his rather short name. "The name is Christian, nice to meet you Kirche." Seriously, what was with the absurdly long names in this land? Not even kings back home had names this long.

"So Christian, what are you doing out here? Did that little Valliere already bore you? I'm sure I could grab your attention some better ways then she could..." She had yet again grabbed his arm and was trying to, but failing to pull him down along the hall to what he presumed to be her room.

Amazingly, Christian had little encounters with ladies such as Kirche and was becoming quite flustered. Luckily our damsel in distress was saved by his knight in shining armor!

Who was smacked in right in the face with a door...

And out stepped Louise who was now very angry at the girl in front of her.

"Zerbst..." The little master growled out. Both of the girls attention now fixated on each other, Christian took a moment to identify that their uniforms were the same. Maybe they were the same in the same grade?

"Oh Zero, don't mind me, Christian and myself were just discussing how fun it would be later tonight when your asleep..." Kirche let out a small giggle as she watched her rival get even more angry.

"Oh~ you damned Zerbst! Get out of here and leave my familiar alone!" Yes, saved!

She suddenly whirled, pointing a finger at himself. "And you! How dare you go wagging your tail at that girl, you... you dog!" She screeched out, waving her arms back and forth as her hair shook rapidly in all directions. He gave a small wave to the now leaving Kirche before addressing his master.

"What do you mean Louise? We were just having some conversation." While the girl had implied other things, there was really no reason to react like a madman.

"Ugh! You wouldn't understand you damned dog... let's get moving to breakfast! I'm not going to miss eating because of that Zerbst!"

She then settled on stomping down the hall to what he figured was the cafeteria.

There was obviously something up with Louise and that girl, Kirche.

**...**

Christian now found himself smelling an aroma of foods as he entered the eating space of the school. Trays guided by maids darted around the tables, stopping occasionally to serve delicious looking foods to the students.

He looked around until he finally spied Louise waiting by one of the tables. He walked himself over, when she had decided to acknowledge him.

"What?" She half shouted out, scaring those nearby her. Sheesh, she was still upset over that?

"Well I was wond-" He was cut off mid sentence as she glared at him from below, before she pointed to what looked like the courtyard.

"Familiars eat out there! Now go find your own food!" Really now? _'Treated with care the headmaster said'. _Heh, yeah right. Oh well, he decided that making her even more angry was a bad idea and walked out into the mid day sun.

**...**

_...back inside..._

Louise was glad that her familiar listened to her commands, because what was worse then having him disobey her in front of all her classmates?

She was already considered a zero and most had blamed luck that she had managed to summon anything at all.

She sighed to herself, that summoning really had done nothing to better her at all, only leaving her with an annoying person as her familiar. While she had promised the headmaster she would care for him, that didn't mean he could just get away with whatever he wanted.

_'Hmmm... maybe after this I'll set out some rules...'_ Yes! Perfect idea Louise, that should show that commoner who's boss!

And then she noticed _Zerbst_ sitting at the table, along with that quiet friend of hers, Tabitha.

"Oh little Louise, where's that dashing familiar of yours? We weren't finished our discussion you know..." The girl trailed off, smirking yet again as her taunts riled her up.

"Oh please Zerbst, I'm not little!" Louise stood up to her full height of... barely 5 feet.

Kirche then chose that moment to grab her in a hug, suffocating her in her assets.

"Oh but you are so little Louise, in so many different ways! Surely you can't entertain your familiar in ways I can!" The hug had ended when Louise wrenched herself free, shouting and scaring away most of the people at the table. The were smart enough to know not to be in the crossfire when these arguments broke out.

"You better stay away from my familiar!" Louise didn't say anything else and again stomped away to the courtyard where Kirche followed along with the book reading Tabitha.

**...**

_...outside before argument..._

The mid day sun greeted him as he walked out into the court yard and he felt the cool fleshing air flow by him. This part of the courtyard was a sealed off part where the familiars ruled. Maids walked about, figuring out the tastes of the new summons.

Most were easy to please, whole others were a bit harder.

Christian was leaning against the wall, enjoying the heat of it upon his back while his thoughts drifted about.

Until he could hear the sounds of what sounded like meat being torn apart.

He opened his eyes and looked around, identifying the source of the noise. It was the small blue drake that had stuffed him in its mouth a couple days ago.

The dragon also seemed to notice him and brought its head over to sniff him.

It was interesting to watch the dragons head shift through what seemed to be shock as it jerked it head backwards.

He couldn't have smelt that bad could he?

Or had the dragon discovered another of his secrets?

"Hey dragon, what's wrong?" If the dragons were anything like the ones of his home land, he knew they were at least intelligent enough to understand human speech.

The dragons head remained in its tense position for a minute, before sneaking back over as if to confirm something.

He raised a brow at the dragons investigations, as it poked and prodded with him with its limb.

"Don't think I'm real?" That wouldn't be to far from the truth actually, since the dragons enhanced senses could probably detect the difference between a normal human and him.

The dragon let out a short _'kyuuuiii' _and snuggled its head under his arm. Which was some what uncomfortable when a neck longer then him did that. Why was the dragon...

Ahah! It was smarter then he thought it to be, if it could also pick up the scent of his lingering dragon form.

Known to only a select few of scholars and adventures, a small pathway hidden in the swamps of Blighttown lead down into the sand dunes of ash lake, one last place where dragons roamed in larger numbers.

It was hidden away in one of the tree trunks that an ancient dragon remained, granting its blessing upon travelers who wished to be 'enlightened'. Each person was granted a different power from the ancient being, with his being the form of a dragon.

It was nothing large mind you, but it matched the size of this drake but differed in color. While this drake was a cool blue, his form was black-grey with large, metallic like wings. His spine was dotted with bony spikes, with his spade like tale covered in more spikes. To the scholars of his land, they were called black dragons. Such a breed was very rare in his lands, with the last known dragon being slayed in the region of Oolacile.

Maybe that's why this dragon enjoyed his company?

He couldn't muse no longer, as he once again heard the shouts of his master, Louise. For goodness sake, that girl could not keep quiet.

Turning towards the shouts, he found his master approaching him, along with Kirche and her blue haired friend.

_'Oh right, those two I attacked before, probably should apologize...' _

"Familiar, we have to get ready for the Familiar Festival!" What, festival? He hadn't been to a festival in a lo-

"We need to figure out something to do so we can win that contest! I'm not going to let this Zerbst beat me!" She regarded, pointing out to said red head behind her.

Oh, so he was some kind of circus performer now?

"Louise, are you sure I should be participating in something like this? Isn't it... below me to do so?" If this girl was thinking I'd go out there and do tricks, she was completely wrong.

Sure, he might be a bit _too_ lenient when it comes to the girl, but he was a sucker for cute little girls.

Really! If his occupation didn't revolve around slaying deadly demons, it would probably revolve around angry little girls!

Honest!

"What do you mean familiar, it's below you? Nothings below a dog!" He sighed to himself, there was no getting through to this girl. It seemed once she had set her mind on something she wouldn't let go.

Apparently this mentality was found in all the nobles of this land from what he had observed and it made him sick.

Walking off and listening to the shouts of his master, he decided he would go for a stroll through the forest to let his master cool off.

**...**

Back to Louise's group of Tabitha, Kirche and herself, she found her on the ends of Kirche's jokes yet again.

She couldn't believe that her familiar had walked off like that! It wasn't even over anything big, just doing some tricks in front of the crowd so she wasn't embarrassed.

And now Kirche was holding herself in laughter as she laughed at another of her jokes, while Tabitha merely stared off at where her familiar went.

Tabitha definitely knew something was wrong with that man. She had detected it through her bond with Sylphid that something was strange about him. He didn't smell like everyone else did, Sylphid describing at it 'not real'. She wasn't sure what she meant by that, not real. Was the man literally not real? A ghost, or a spirit maybe? That also brought to her thoughts what else Sylphid had smelled.

She had said he smelled like a dragon. She truly had no clue about that, but Sylphid seemed to insist that he smelt like one. Could Louise have possibly summoned another rhyme dragon? While she was currently keeping it a secret that she had summoned the rare and possibly extinct breed of dragons, Sylphid said that she lived with a small group of them. Could this man possibly be one of them, simply transformed?

The man was a definite person of interest on her list.

**...**

_...hours later, in the forest..._

Christian, instead of going back after half an hour of walking had decided to continue exploring.

It wasn't until many hours later that he realized he could quite possibly be lost.

It actually was of no bother to him, as with benefits of absorbing such a large amount of souls, he could manipulate space around him into what he wanted it to be. So if he wanted to create a small portal back to the academy, then he could.

And that's exactly what he did.

Stepping through the portal, he found himself in his last location, the courtyard.

He decided he should go apologize to Louise, after all he did just up and leave.

He wandered through the overpass of the courtyard, ignoring his surroundings before stumbling into a humming maid who was carrying a basket of laundry.

She let out a sharp yelp before falling into Christians arms.

She then turned tomato red, so much that Christian was beginning to think it was unhealthy.

"Miss? Are you ok?" He spoke to girl in his arms, who only seemed to twitch and shudder at his voice.

In Siesta's mind, her thoughts were currently racing to identify just what horrifying tactic he would use upon her body! It was just like in all her books! Her master was going to punish her for her mistakes! No! She was too young for this!

She then finally chose to jump out of the mans arms at a surprising speed, before bowing to the man and apologizing several times over.

To Christian, it was a strange sight seeing this girl. She looked... sick maybe? Just why was she so red?

The answer, our resident demon slayer would not know, because he is completely daft when it comes to members of the other races affections for him. In most cases at least.

"There's no need to apologize, Miss..." He trailed off, again not knowing the poor girls maid.

"S-Siesta, sir." Siesta had finally gotten over the shock of the man and stammered out her name.

Progress at its finest, of course.

The pair had agreed on cleaning up the mess of clothes that now littered the hall and Christian found himself actually enjoying his time with the maid. Getting a good look at her, she had cool black hair, lightly tanned skin and a chest while not as big as Kirche's was definitely bigger the Louise's.

Actually, he was pretty sure almost everyone was bigger then Louise.

Why was he comparing breast sizes, he himself did not know.

Strangely enough, the most identifying feature of her were her almond shaped eyes.

Along with the skin tone, it reminded him of the inhabitants of the Great Swamp that were similarly identified with the features Siesta shared.

But it wasn't possible right?

Of course not, he was just going into great detail again.

After assisting the maid with the chores he interrupted, which she was much against, he had finally decided to retire for the night, wishing the girl a pleasant sleep.

He wandered through the hallways before finally reaching Louise's room. He reached out to grab the handle only to find it locked.

Locked?

One does not simply lo-

_'Well,' _he mused _'guess I'll be staring at the wall all night again.'_

And so our hero sat and waited until the first tendrils of sunlight reached across the land.

**A/N: Alright, the last chapter (possibly) for the weekend. Possibly. Having to do with the story itself, Christian once lived within one of the royal families of Boletaria. He lived there until he was sent away by his father at the age of nineteen, where he fell into play the events of Demons Souls. If your wondering why he everyone hasn't figured out his magic yet, it was because in the fight the only two people who would have a view on it was Louise and Colbert, but only Colbert ended up remembering it. I'll probably have him ending up confronting the player later on at some point. **

**Regarding Sylphid and her thoughts about Christian, she could obviously detect that Christian was not human, but a spirit or phantom. Since in Halkeginia they wouldn't know the difference between Soul form and body form/ undead and living besides the basic facts, this is why it would shock Sylphid who would probably detect him akin to being 'dead'. **

**Now with why he smelled like a dragon, in Ash Lake in Dark Souls you can discover one of the few remaining ancient dragons who will grant you the Dragon Head Stone. With this, you can transform into a humanoid form of a dragon. I was also interested in the fact you can trade in dragon scales to rank further up in the covenant, but only increases your flame. So I decided, why not have doing that increase both power and form?**

**Final note that is regarding his powers, basically with all the power he has gained, he is on his way to becoming one of the mad, crazed powerful demon gods. Thus, like many of the other gods, he simply warps the space around him, drawing manifesting energy in the air towards him, allowing him to use it in some interesting ways. This will also have a bigger role to play further in the story as the two worlds begin to merge into one, since by simply being in Halkeginia is attracting his own homes demons. So it will be explained further in the story when we get to the whys and hows of them merging.  
**

**Also to note, I will be skipping the Guiche fight and moving onto the familiar fair instead, so we can finally get into some decent combat.**

**Until then, please review and thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Demons Souls and Zero no Tsukaima belong to their respective owners, I own nothing! (Because if I did, I wouldn't be making fanfics of 'em)**

**Phantom of Zero**

**Chapter 6: Classes**

_...Louise's dream..._

Louise had once again found herself in this weird dream again. She wasn't sure what it meant, but she now found herself in front of a large castle bridge. She also, still, could not control herself and was forced to watch through whoever's eyes these were.

She could see what looked like another large group of soldiers ahead, standing guard. Glancing behind her, she saw the remains of two soldiers that had attacked her before.

Walking up the stairs to the bridge, she attracted the attention of the group, who moved forward to attack her. Raising her shield, she blocked the first strike, pushing the man away with her shield and lashed out at another with the sword in her hands. Steel met flesh as the man doubled over, grabbing at his gut were blood poured from. With a quick twirl, she beheaded the other soldier from earlier who stood still before falling to the ground.

It wasn't until she had turned to face her remaining opponents when she noticed an even bigger problem.

Bigger then the smaller towers that surrounded the main tower in the academy, a blood red dragon hovered at the far end of the bridge, having been attracted to the commotion on the bridge.

Black horns sprung out of the head, torn wings flapped in the light breeze and she could identify the remains of former victims... all around the dragons mouth. Louise gagged, before she felt herself diving behind a small stone wall as the dragon released hell on the group of soldiers.

The cries of them could be heard from her end as they were burned down by the dragons fire, desperately trying to shoot it down only to anger it further. Peeking around the corner, she witnessed the dragon picked up one of the remaining soldiers and crunched down, the mans legs falling down with a sickening, wet crunch. The dragon effortlessly killed the remaining fighters and took to the skies, forgetting about her.

Which she was grateful for, there was no way she would fight that monstrosity.

Walking through the charred remains of soldiers brought an unwelcoming scent to her nose, especially when she had bent down to rummage through one of the corpses. The hand pulled out what seemed to be... grass? Before stuffing it into on of the pouches in her armor.

Walking into yet another unlit room, she stumbled about briefly before her eyes settled upon a large lever. Walking over to it, she gave it a sharp yank, causing chains as big as her in the room to begin shifting. In the distance, she could hear metal upon stone moving, signifying that the lever had indeed done something.

Turning around, she exited out the back door, surprising two more soldiers who were put down with ease. Now in what seemed to be a staircase down, she could hear wet noises that sounded like mud being shaken around in a bucket.

Creeping through the darkness, she came face to face with a blob like creature, that slowly moved to view her, a shield protecting what she thought could be it face. The thing had managed to right itself out, before it slowly moved back, firing a sharpened spear that had come out of nowhere.

Bringing the shield up, she heard a welcoming 'ting' as the spear met her shield and she rushed over to the blob, bring her sword down upon its shield. The sword bounced off, throwing Louise back and leaving her open to the creature.

She dropped to the ground as the creatures spears pierced through her armor, the person inside let out a shout of pain before crumpling down, nursing his injured leg. The blob creature drew back to prepare another, the armored being that was Louise looking up in horror only for a spear to smash through his head, ending his life.

**...**

"NO!" Christian was jolted away from his thoughts when he heard what sounded like Louise shouting in her room. He moved to the door quickly, before remembering that it was locked and quickly fumbled around for one of his daggers.

He pulled out a curved looking one with serrated edges, jamming it into the lock hole before twisting and turning. He wasn't sure if the locks of this land were the same of his land, but grinned when he heard a small 'click' of the lock being opened.

Bursting into the room and un-sheathing his sword, he prepared to face whatever had caused her to scream like that.

Only to find Louise sweating, nervously shaking like she had seen a ghost.

"Uh, Louise?" He looked around the room to find nothing of what he expected, no assassins, ghosts, zombies or thieves.

He then took in Louise who was still covered in her bed, nervously eyeing everything in her room. Her hair was matted down and it looked like she was sweating heavily.

Was this girl sick too maybe? Like the one maid... Siesta!

Louise turned to look at him at she let out another small squeak and darted back under her sheets.

"...was it something I said?" He whispered to himself. Everyone here seemed to have strange problems.

**...**

After ten minutes of Louise muttering to herself about _"blob creatures wielding spears' _and _'spear to the knee,' _she had finally exited her room, now dressed in her uniform. There she found Christian who had walked out after she had hidden in her sheets.

He regarded her with a strange look in his eyes before deciding to address her about the matter. "So Louise, just what was the shouting about?"

She turned back to get another look at him when it finally dawned on her about what had caused her to hide.

It was his armor...it was identical to the one in the dream!

"I-it... it was nothing familiar. Thank you for your concern." She had got out, turning away sharply from the armor that brought back the dream of last night.

Christian simply stared at the girl oddly for a minute. Louise could feel his eyes upon her back as she brushed off her uniform.

"What?" She barked out, annoyed at how her familiar looked at her like some kind of animal.

"If you don't want to tell me, I guess it's fine." The man simply stated, turning around to stare at the wall again.

She looked at him for a couple minutes, wondering about her dream and the mans armor. Could they possibly be related? Or was it just a coincidence? A strange one at that...

It also brought forth that she didn't have any clue as to what the dreams meant.

Choosing to forward the events, she chose to tell him about her dream.

So she quickly explained what had happened before just telling him it was all a dream, but in the mind of Christian his mind was shocked to find out that her dream had resembled his first venture into the Boletarian Castle, when he first found out about his apparent immortality.

Could greater forces be at work here? Why would she be dreaming about his adventures? Did this have something to do with their bond as a familiar and master?

They both pondered these strange events, both figuring that something was afoot.

Both had decided to keep their thoughts to themselves as they wandered down to breakfast.

Strange indeed.

**...**

Breakfast had come again and Christian leaned against the wall behind Louise as she ate her food. He was currently taking in the people at the table, who consisted of Kirche and Louise. Well, the only ones he knew at least.

There was a quiet, blue headed girl who kept glancing at him when she thought he was not looking.

A blonde boy who had ruffled hair and an open shirt and was currently trying to win over the nearby blonde girl.

Said blonde girl was currently ignoring him in favor of her food. She had hair that came down all around her in what looked to be a drill like shape.

Seriously, the hair styles and color of these people still amazed him.

There was also a little chubby boy who was devouring a large plate of food with two forks. He had rosy red cheeks and blonde hair.

Thankfully, there was no commotion this time, Louise managing to keep her anger in check as the other occupants of the table joked about her.

All except the blue haired book worm, who remained silent through out breakfast, only putting her book down to eat her food.

Why did she keep staring at him though? Did the dragon tell her about its suspicions? That would probably be the reason why she was so wary of him now.

Oh well, it wasn't his problem. If she proved to be an obstacle later on, he'd remove her.

**...**

Now began classes, the first class being Earth. The magic of this world interested him greatly, as he was always looking to master new forms of magic. Maybe with some practice, he would be able to learn theirs as well. He then lost interest as it turned into a fairly long lecture about the principals of earth magic, stuff he had already known from his own world. Properties of metal, hardness... blah blah blah. During his time as a out in the field when he would forge his own weapons, you had to learn the tricks of the trade quickly. So all of this was nothing new to him.

But his wish for something interesting came true when the teacher called upon Louise to 'transmute' three small pebbles. Of course to the rest of the class, this was something akin to a death sentence as they protested against letting the 'zero' do this.

"It's dangerous Miss Chevreuse." Kirche stated with a shrug of shoulders like it was everyday knowledge.

Of course, the taunts and jeers of her classmates only served to further Louise into doing it and as she raised her wand to cast the spell, he leaned forward in interest as to what would happen.

And then Louise demonstrated why she was called 'zero' as aloud bang filled the room, overthrowing desks, papers and some students. Black smoke lifted and he finally got another look at Louise.

She was now stained with soot, her clothes torn in some place revealing the skin beneath. Pulling out a handkerchief, she cleaned off her face.

"It seems... that I might have made a little mistake..." Louise claimed, getting an angry growl from Kirche who was saved by the little blue haired girl, and shouted at Louise claiming that her success rate was zero. Similar out cries followed afterwards, battering the already poor Louise.

Christian had remained staring at her from his spot at the window, his being feeling the fluctuating power level the girl had. The spell had lashed out, simply growing wild and causing it to explode. It reminded him of some of his own spells, but a certain type of magic came to mind.

_'Abyss magic...'_

**...**

Afterwards, Christian and Louise remained in class to clean up the mess she had made, the teachers stating that it must be done with 'no magic'.

Well obviously not, did these teachers just want a bigger mess.

Both were silent as they strode through the class room, Christian doing the heavy lifting and Louise wiping down dirty surfaces. She sighed to herself, wondering how the spells still remained to work even though she had summoned a familiar.

"So Louise... just what's up with your magic?" Louise looked over to him and saw that he had finally arranged all the desks and was now looking over her with a critical eye.

Was her familiar now poking fun at her too? She truly was a failure...

"All my spells end up in explosions Christian, nobody knows why or how they do... they just do." She sighed dejectedly to herself. Nothing ever worked for Louise the Zero.

"Really now? Sounds like a powerful thing in my views." Louise looked back over to him that he wasn't grinning, or trying to keep in chuckles, but actually deadly serious.

"Powerful? Please! What use are explosions?" She really did not know that value of explosions it seemed.

"Well, in my land they would have been of use." Christian stated a matter of fact. That brought to question her dreams...

"What were your lands like Christian?" She was curious as to what his home was like. Was it like Tristan, or maybe Gallia? She had never asked her familiar before, other then in the infirmary days ago.

He suddenly took on a more solemn look as his eyes drifted to the floor. "My land was once a proud one, until the scourge of demons came upon us..." Christian told, his voice was no longer as likely as it was moments before, now grave and soft.

Louise was now somewhat nervous. Christian froze up as if recalling a bad memory and judging by his tone Louise figured it was. "W-what... what happened?" She whispered out softly.

Christian turned towards the window, as if deciding if he should tell her. Gathering his thoughts, he jumped up onto the window sill, leaning back against the cool windows.

And thus he told her the story of the land of Boletaria...

**...**

_King Allant the twelfth, by channeling the power of souls brought unprecedented prosperity to his northern kingdom of Boletaria. That is until the colorless Deep Fog swept across the land. Boletaria was cut-off from the outside world, and those who dared penetrate the Deep Fog never returned._

_But Vallarfax of the royal Twin Fangs broke free from the fog and told the world of Boletaria's plight. That the Old King Allant had aroused the Old One, the great beast below the Nexus, from its eternal slumber. And that a colorless fog had swept in, unleashing terrible demons. The demons hunt down men and claim their souls. Those who lose their souls, also lose their minds._

_...the power of a mature demon's soul is beyond human imagination. The legend spread quickly. Mighty warriors were drawn to the accursed land but none have returned._

Not even he had returned.

He told her of some of his battles too, nothing of the bigger fights, but some of the smaller ones.

She listened with a hand over her mouth, shocked at what had happened to his lands.

She thought about how horrible it was to have your world torn apart in front of you.

Everything you had known, taken and just thrown out.

She for once, felt pity upon the man.

"I'm sorry..." She softly whispered out. She had no idea about the mans life and the way she had treated him...

It left a surprising taste of disgust in her mouth.

"It's fine. Time goes on, great kingdoms arise and fall. It was bound to happen sometime."

It puzzled her as to why he was so accepting of his homes fate. Wasn't he mad that everything was out of his control? That he could do nothing to stop it?

To that question, he gave a simple answer.

"I gained a lot more in that time then I had gained in my whole life." The answer served to only confuse her more. Just what could he have gained that would make him forget about all the horrors?

"What did you gain?" Christian looked around, as if not wanting to say things in public.

"Look, we'll talk about this later okay? Lets just finish this up..." And with that ended the conversation, Louise wondering what Christian was trying to hide and Christian wondering how to break it to her.

**A/N: Okay, that ends off another little filler chapter really, just some more minor interactions between character. Next chapter, Louise and Christian will head in to town for a shopping trip. After that, we'll probably end up moving onto the familiar fair. And yes, Louise's dreams are those of Christians ventures in Boletaria. The first dream sequence in Chapter 4 was Christian in the prologue area, and this one was his first time going to the Boletarian castle. No, he didn't fight Phalanx, just one of his mini pawns.**

**Also regarding the whole dragon covenant thing, if you want to get a decent look at what he looks like, its similar to Black Dragon Kalameet, the same dragon who was mentioned last chapter. **

**Abyss magic is the new form of magic you can find in the new Dark Souls DLC Artorias of the Abyss, spells falling under Sorceries, pyromancy and I do believe miracles too. At the time being our character does not know the magic of the abyss, but he might come to learn it later in the story. Why did Louise's spell remind him of it? It was simply how Louise had drawn in so much energy, similar to what casters of the abyss magic must also do. We'll go into that later when the story gets to that point.**

**As you can probably tell, this isn;t going to be entirely canon for either, since I've already flipped around the story of FoZ and brought it some different mechanics. I'll try to keep it to a minimum folks :p**

**Oh yeah, and in response to one of the reviews, I did notice the small changes at points in between first and third, sorry about that.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Demons Souls and Zero no Tsukaima belong to their respective owners, I own nothing! (Because if I did, I wouldn't be making fanfics of 'em)**

**Blargh! Alright, so immediate apology for being away so long. Real life decided to make me its bitch, so I sadly did not have time to focus on writing in anyway. That also brings to the plate that I'm not really sure how this chapter is, having decided to just push another out and not having written for so long. So if you guys see anything wrong, criticism, etc, please point it out!**

**Phantom of Zero**

**Chapter 6: A venture into town**

With the morning sun rising over the academy, it was the beginning of another day. Christian had another midnight wander through the academy, assisting the maid Siesta with some of her chores.

Christian had become on good terms with the girl, enjoying her sweet nature even for a stranger like him. She reminded him of the stories Thomas had once told of his daughter, before the fog had swept through his home lands/

He was currently strolling through the gardens, something he had not done since his time back home. It was something that always fascinated him, no matter how far he had gone, nature always found a way though. Whether the beautiful surface flowers or the underground roots seeping through the earth, ever expanding, ever searching.

It brought him back to his adventures and the young boy he had taught. He wasn't young in age, oh no. He was actually the same age as him. He met him in his short time in Lordran, the poor boy had been branded by the darksign and was on the run from the undead hunters.

The darksign was something of legend in those lands. There was little to no information where it had come from, but story resulted of some religious cult that had said that the gods bestowed those upon their enemies.. Thus, large groups had arisen who dedicated themselves in the extermination of the undead. It was sickening to him, the few undead he had met were just normal people who were pushed into a bad situation, just wishing to live their lives. Of course, such things were never that easy and he had witnessed countless massed executions of the branded.

Such was the young man he had saved from the hunters, lost in Lordran, hunted by men and demons, barely surviving on the last of his wits. If it wasn't for him, he probably would have hollowed out into a feral beast.

He remembered that it had not been the last time he had seen he boy, but his thoughts halted, remembering the last time he had actually seen him, it had been to late to save him.

He sighed to himself, looking over a wilting tree before deciding he should go wake his master.

**...**

What he didn't notice was the blue headed girl, Tabitha watching him from the skies atop her blue dragon Sylphid. She wasn't sure why she had followed the man through out the night, but something told her that behind the man, there was something much more sinister lurking. There was a reason she feared ghosts and spirits, a natural trait by birth, or so they had said, that she could detect their presence, even at points able to see the deceased spirits.

While most had not bothered her, some spirits last moments and emotions could latch on to humans. People without her 'gift' could go on in their daily lives and easily ignore the spiritual residue tugging at their souls. But for her, it was an entirely different story. She had seen quite a few of the phantoms ghostly images latch onto her, before her mind became filled with memories not of her own.

And with each spirit came the weight of their own problems, stacking up upon he already weary soul and burdening the girl further. She could feel them still, screeching and howling beneath her skin, her bones writhing in agony as the spirits lashed out, desperate to free themselves from their eternal prison.

She felt the same presence around this man, but greater, the mass of energy almost bringing her to her knees, the souls inside her turning to seek the new bearer out and surely would have bent her to their will if she was any weaker.

Mildly suspicious of the man, and had ordered Sylphid to observe the man from afar during the days, but nothing was note worthy. Even now, he had done nothing to gain her suspicions.

Just what was it about this man that felt so wrong? She shivered, body quaking beneath her blue robes before the dragon flew back into the mass of green and bark, hidden underneath a blanket of trees

**...**

Louise was already awake, stirring in bed as she thought of what her fami-no, Christian had told her last night during their talk last night.

He in fact, was actually not human, and instead considered himself a demon, or at least well on the way to becoming one.

His land was apparently granted a very powerful being, one that had given them knowledge and an unprecedented power, unmatched by even the greatest warriors of his time, the soul arts.

But the soul arts were just the beginning, and as time went on and scholars discovered ways to bend the souls further into their will, granting them even more power. And thus when they had discovered to much, King Allant breaking the last thread of protection between peace and destruction, the land was enveloped in a deep, colorless fog. While on the outside world, no one had much of a clue what was happening with all sudden contact with Boletaria halting. But on the inside, the fog had begun creating a tide of demons, that were unleashed upon Boletaria and eventually, its neighboring lands, destroying the lands under their march.

The demons hunted men and claimed their souls. With the loss of their soul, the men became shells of their former selves, rabid husks that lashed out at any being with a soul in order to regain their sanity. He had told her how he had once seen a group of once peaceful scholars turn into a mad horde, charging at a creature twice their size that tore them easily limb from limb.

The same also applied to the demons, for when a human slayed them, they would gain all of their captured souls, along with the power and knowledge of all of them. It was said that the power of a mature demons soul was beyond human imagination, holding secrets that were not meant to be unleashed and further strengthening outsiders tales. The thought of such power, hidden inside every being attracted many a great fighters to the land, all eager to claim such capabilities.

That's how Christian came into the lands of Boletaria, where he to eventually fell in combat, but was saved by the Maiden in Black. He didn't explain much about his apparent savior, except that she had once been one of the most powerful demons herself, able to grant power to demon slayers who collected enough souls, and teaching them how to wield them.

She was also told how with every soul you consumed, the more you craved and thus if you consumed to many, you would become as mad as the rest, eternally in a search for souls. He had told her how he had seen good men turn into horrific killers all because they had consumed to many, or could not consume enough.

And with that, she was told of her familiars predicament. Those who were in servitude to the nexus would become what he called 'soul form' when they died, that were essentially, essences of their former selves. Those who could not regain their body and remained in soul form would eventually die off, sometimes manifesting as a soul that could contain their thoughts, belongings, everything of the former individual. But those who want to remain living must harvest those souls, eventually gaining one powerful enough one restore them to there past selves.

But with this came the problem he had previously explained: too many souls would drive you mad. It wasn't just the power and knowledge that came with it, it was the thoughts and final moments of each soul that would also burden you, ever haunting you in the farthest corners of your mind, unable to drive them out, but always there to torment you and laugh at you when someone else claimed them, welcoming you into the hell they had been pushed into.

He himself, who had slayed numerous demons and even 'arch demons' had so many souls to his name that he was slowly but steadily becoming one of the stronger ones.

He wasn't sure when he would, but he wanted to at least experience something one last time before it. That was how he summoned here, to be her familiar. A supposed death wish, she sadly thought.

She didn't know what to think of the man now. Should she be scared that he could probably kill everyone in the academy without much trouble, or feel sad because he was slowly dieing with no way to stop it?

It reminded her of sister Cattleya and her sickness.

That just furthered her quest on finding someway to make them both better. She was a Valliere! There was no way she could let Christian die some petty death like that! He was her responsibility, so it was her job to find a way to save him!

And her sister too... so she could finally live a normal life.

She sighed sadly, this was just so depressing to her.

Who wouldn't be, when their life already revolved around being a failure, a condescending mother, a sickly older sibling and now a slowly dieing familiar.

Shopping suddenly looked much more positive then it did before.

**...**

Both familiar and master were now on their way into a busy sector of town to do some shopping. They were currently on horseback along a dirt road leading to the shopping district of Tristan's capital city, Louise to finish some errands and Christian... well, he was just dragged along really.

Christian was currently comparing his society to those of this land. The method of which they built their kingdoms buildings seemed the same, easily identifying large buildings in the distance that were of the norm back home. The lower class system was also something he remembered, except that this system only had two real class differentiations.

The nobles, and then everyone else, nobles marked by who could wield magic and everyone else who could not pushed into the 'we could care less about you' category.

It was mind boggling that these people would use such a silly system. Even the lowest commoner in his home could learn magic if they really wanted to. But no, here, magic was strictly limited to those of noble bloodline.

A silly concept indeed.

He wondered if anyone would soon realize how backwards this concept would be, especially if the only way to be a noble was through magic. But apparently, it all started way back when, a 'Brimir' used some holy magic and created the system they now use.

Not wanting to get into a religious conflict with his master, Christian had seen it fit to keep his mouth shut upon the way there.

A couple of minutes had passed along the sunny countryside when he could hear the sound of small beats upon the deep blue sky, his head turning behind him as he scanned the sky.

Gesturing to Louise to stop, he pulled their horses off the trail, eyeing the sky for what could be some wild creature.

Instead he witnessed the small drake, Sylphid fly over once before descending, hovering upon the dirt road that they had been on and kicking up a small dust storm.

"Is that Zerbst following us here?" Louise questioned, not being able to see any figures upon its back.

Which is because both Kirche and Tabitha had dismounted the dragon, opting to follow the dragon from the ground to avoid detection.

Which obviously didn't work as planned now that Sylphid had been discovered.

Christian had chosen to walk up to the dragon, hand reaching out to scratch a sensitive spot above her eyes and questioning the young drake much like an adult would to a small child.

The sight was perplexing to Louise, who did not observe the drake as what her familiar viewed to be a small, fluffy animal but instead a dangerous predator that could swallow him whole.

And had already done so once, at that.

Such strange ways her familiar had.

She was then pulled off her horse, red hair flashing around in her vision as she found herself in another one of Kirche's hugs, the poor girl barely able to breath as Kirche suffocated her

Both familiars turned to the commotion with a look of alarm, only to resume their previous actions, the dragon letting out _'kyuu's' _of happiness as Christian scratched some of the more sensitive parts.

He of course knew these sweet spots from periods when he was in dragon form. Who knew that little crevice below the wings felt so good to be scratched?

While these two continued their antics, Louise was accusing Kirche and Tabitha of following them. Kirche had a course just waved it off as a coincidence, as she and Tabitha were heading in to town to get some errands done and had noticed them down on the roads, getting of Sylphid as to not spook the horses. This only caused Louise to scoff at her lies, adding more fuel to the fire as the two continued throwing insults at eachother.

Tabitha remained silent as the girls bickered, instead staring over the edge of her book at the interactions between her familiar and Christian.

With much begging from Kirche and insistence from Christian, saying the more the merrier, Louise had agreed to bring the other two along for their shopping trips, as long as Kirche promised not to do anything crazy or unknowingly imply things.

We all know that is not possible with Kirche the Ardent.

**...**

A couple of hours later, under the late noon sun, our group was walking through the busiest part of town, the shopping district. A vast array of stalls marked the streets, from the small shambling stands of the lower district to the proud, shining market of the higher ones.

Christian had been turned into a unwilling pack mule for the trio of young girls, two bags of clothes hung upon each arm and a small pack of books upon his back. Luckily for the poor man, he was no longer wearing his armor, just a set of fine robes the girls had bought him for him so he didn't have to wear his armor around all the time. This made the burden barely noticeable for him.

So much for being a strong, independent demon slayer huh Christian?

The three girls- well, really two, since Tabitha had just nodded and followed them to it, were currently combing through a high quality hat store, hats strewn about as the two quested for a perfect match. Tabitha and Christian remained outside, the small bluenette apparently having a dislike for hats, and Christian feeling uncomfortable in such a lavish store.

A couple minutes later, the two girls had finally exited, wearing some fancy looking hats, giggling to themselves.

It made Christian smile to see the normally headstrong Louise was improving upon her attitude. She had said that the Zerbst's had been their families rival for a long period of time, but both of these girls could care less about that it seemed. They, to him were just to teenage girls on a shopping trip instead of ancient family rivals.

Continuing down the cobblestone road, his eyes darted around signs that hung from stores before they fell upon what looked to be a weapon shop.

Even though the number of weapons currently in his possession numbered in the hundreds, having a look at what local shops offered possible information about what his enemies might use against him.

"Hey, girls, mind if I take a browse in that shop over there?" He said, gesturing to the shop with arms.

"Huh? Why would you need to go there darling? Don't you already have your own blade?" Kirche pointed out, having seen Christian wearing it around the academy, Louise agreeing. Just how many weapons could one person need?

"Come on Louise, I just want to browse their selection." If these girls were going to drag him all over the city and break his back with the amount of clothes he would have to carry, then he wanted to visit at least one store that was of his interest.

The girls agreed, figuring that he did deserve that much at least for the hard work they put him through.

He almost let out a chuckle at that, wondering what the trio would have thought of Biorr's sense of 'work'. The man had definitely proved that there was nothing you could not do if you didn't set your mind to it.

Of course, thinking that the two could lift a one hundred ton dragon limb and go for a jog around the castle block had definitely put a new definition of work in his brain.

Walking over to the store, Christian opened the wooden door for the three ladies, gesturing them into the smoky, grimy shop.

The door pulled shut, startling dust off some of the weapons and causing the group to cough.

"Ahah, visitors!" A voice came out of the back room, a ratty looking man following the voice, currently wiping down a sword with a rag.

"Why, hello there little nobles! Care to interest you in some of me wares?" The man, looked more like a thief then anything, but that was rather judgmental of Christian.

It didn't help that his accent reminded him of Patches, a sneaky little thief he had met during his adventures that had tricked him into a trap once or twice.

Better be careful with this one, he might have another pit of skeletons around nearby.

"No sir, my familiar is just here to browse." Louise said, and the girls moved out of the way to let the shopkeeper get a better look at the man.

"Well fine sir, you look in need of a strong blade. Let me go into the back room and find a nice blade for you." The man stated, not even letting Christian get in a word of protest.

The shopkeeper could be heard searching through other weapons for a minute, until returning into the dusty room, holding a shiny looking golden blade, an intricate design upon its hilt.

Kirche and Louise let out 'ooo's' and 'aaah's' of appraise. Tabitha gave the blade a look, before turning to Christian. Christian looked at the girl, a small line of words mutually understood between the two as they looked at each other. Tabitha returned to her book and Christian turned to evaluate the blade.

While it was pretty to look at, the blade itself was made of gold. Gold, being both heavy and soft, was a poor choice to make a blade out of. Even if he could possibly re-forge it some way, it probably cost a lot to begin with.

"Just to ask, how much is this blade?" The shopkeeper probably had planned for a bunch of brainless nobles with no knowledge of blades to come in and rip them off.

Sadly, our demon slayer wasn't brainless when it came to swords.

Just women.

"Well, a blade of the finest Germanian alchemy user would have to sell for at least... three thousand new gold." The man stated a matter of fact.

Louise openly blanched at that. She could buy a mansion for that kind of money! It did look nice, but it couldn't be worth that much. It was just some dumb sword!

"Well little miss, a blade in these days costs as much as a house if you want it to last." The shopkeeper replied, turning back to polish another sword. "After all, you better be on the lookout for thieves planning to rob you blind."

The three girls nodded their heads, it was big news now that Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt had been sighted in Tristan, performing a slew of heists and casually leaving his marking among them.

"Please shopkeeper! This man obviously knows blades better then you do!" The group turned about, looking for the voice only to find no one else in the small room.

"Huh? Who was that?" Christian wandered over to the barrels he had heard the voice. His eyes drifted around the dusty display of blades, some in decent condition and other looking like pieces of fragile glass.

"You! Down here! Are you blind or something?" Christian finally noticed who was speaking. Actually, not who, what was speaking.

It was a longsword, a larger size then his own actually, a bronzed small piece of metal above the hilt moving up and down whenever it seemed to talk.

"A sentient blade?" Christian wasn't surprised, since his time in Boletaria had actually funded a few of these blades. While no, his didn't talk, certain blades in his arsenal were sentient in strange ways. Heck, blades weren't even the only sentient thing he had encountered.

He had once encountered a golden, flying towel robe that would actively seek out the strongest demon in its presence.

He had wound up wearing that silly thing more time then once.

Pulling the sword out of the worn barrel, he gave the blade a quick look over. While it seemed rusted, a quick fling of the blade rung out, telling him that the blade was not actually rusted through. He could give it a cleaning himself.

A couple quick swings provided more positive results, as comfy as his longsword was and was just as long. A bit lighter too, so that was another benefit.

"Your not so bad yourself partner, you got a nice, firm grip." The sword complimented, apparently noticing its test run.

"How much would this blade be, shopkeep?" Pointing at the blade in his hand, the man let out a chuckle.

"That piece of junk? Keep it kid, it'll save me some head aches in the future." And with that, the keeper went back into hiding, leaving the small group alone.

"Really Christian? Did you need another sword?" Louise stated, somewhat annoyed at having to see the man enjoy having such a wreck of a blade. What was he going to do with the other one now?

"It was free, don't worry about it." He said, belting the sword upon his hip.

Exiting the store, the found Tabitha eyeing a different store, this time being a library.

"What? Oh right, I guess we can go, right guys?" Louise remembered that Tabitha was always reading books, so it would make sense that the girl would want to venture somewhere where she found interesting.

**...**

Now in the library, Kirche and Louise had wandered off together, their voices still being heard through the maze of books, leaving Christian and Tabitha alone to browse the shelves.

Now that Christian had the chance to analyze Tabitha some more, he finally recognized the familiar scent of souls upon her. While the other two had none, this one had atleast three dozen upon her, that of a lesser human back home. At least during the time of the Old One.

She was also so young to, and to have that many souls upon her. He then remembered that in his life, it wouldn't be much farther from her age that she would be sent out to Boletaria.

Tabitha had apparently noticed his stare, but elected to remain on the search for books.

She finally found of one relative interest to her: _'Ghost, spirits, undead, all things supernatural, Vol. 3_ .

"Really now, what's someone like you reading this?" The girl had captured his interest, her cold personality was exactly like he was during some harder times in Boletaria.

Choosing to distance himself away from other, mostly so he didn't get hurt when they went mad or were killed, either by his own hand or others.

But after being stuck, alone in the nexus for hundreds of years with no one to talk too, talking to other people was a godsend.

The girl regarded him for a moment, eyebrows narrowed down in thought.

"You."

"Me?" Yup, little to no words in the conversation, just what needs to be said.

She looked through the row of shelves, looking for anyone who might over hear before leaning closer to him.

"Spirits..." She whispered out, her temporary barrier in her mind between the ghostly phantoms momentarily breaking, energy coiling around her as she shivered before hugging her arms around her.

Just as he supposed. She was like him, feeling the souls of the departed they had collected.

"You can hear them and see their thoughts, right?" If she could, then either this world had a similar case to his world or somehow, the fog had seeped into this world somehow as well.

Nodding her head, Christian decided to look at her essence. The girl had a small amount of souls with her, roughly three dozen. While this was identical to what the foot soldiers in Boletaria had, they were ignorant to them, their mind only focused on the collecting of more souls.

For someone who had their mind intact, such a task was daunting to those who were not trained to cope with the souls. At his power, the only souls that could pierce his thin veil in the mind were powerful souls, those that were weak were merely lost upon the sea of souls that floated around him.

"Alright Tabitha, we'll discuss this later. I need to help you master the soul arts, a magic of my land that will help you control your souls." Christian was actually dead set on helping this girl. If possible, maybe even some way out of the loop. The poor girl already looked like she had enough on her plate, angry souls of the dead did not need to be added to her problems.

The girl nodded, a small smile upon her lips as she thanked Christian. The two had selected a small number of books that might assist them, before heading out to find Kirche and Louise.

**...**

The group had decided to spend the night in town, choosing to rest in one of the most luxurious hotels, purchasing a room, since they were all fine with sleeping with each other.

Well, besides Christian, since he doesn't sleep.

They were currently seated along one of the tables, Louise and Kirche idly stirring their coffee as Tabitha listened, intrigued by the mention of souls.

Kirche was wide eyed at the tale, having no idea that Christian would have gone through something like that. While the man was a little too friendly at first, she could now see why. She proclaimed that she would also find some way to make him happy, much to Louise pleadings not to.

Christian had chuckled to himself at the two girls antics, seemingly along the lines of becoming an interesting pair of friends. Turning his eyes over to Tabitha, he once again saw her boring her eyes into him again.

"Strong..." She merely said. "Of course darling here is strong! Those fools on the other side never knew what hit them!" Kirche proclaimed loudly, jumping up from her seat with a fist to the sky.

"First thing you need to know girls is that there's always someone better then you out there. Never compare yourselves to others, you'll either be sorely disappointed or become over confident, both being deadly in their own right." Even now, some of the older mages back home could take him on. He wasn't the most powerful demon out there, without a doubt there was always something much larger lurking beneath the surface, slinking in the shadows and waiting for you to slip up.

"How?" Tabitha had asked again, seemingly fixated on how souls could further her own power.

"We'll get to that soon. Also, shouldn't you tell them...?" Christian trailed off, her head nodding as she realized what he was talking about, Kirche interested in what had seemingly happened to her friend, Louise curious to just what her familiar meant.

So Tabitha gave a much shortened version of his story, mostly just describing the effect souls had on her and how he would help her master it. Christian did tuck away the thought that she never mentioned just how she had got them, the only way either to slay another human or find one of the ghostly souls that had not shriveled away.

While Kirche was worried for her friend, she was happy that Christian would help her control it. Even though the girl seemed quiet and cold, she was actually a nice person underneath it all. Of course, the world wouldn't allow her to be that girl, but she bit her lip to silence herself from saying anything.

But to Louise, who had known what happened to those conflicted by the need for souls was suddenly afraid for the girl. Tabitha was smart, and she wondered how the girl would take it upon hearing it. That also brought to question about how Tabitha had gained that ability in the first place. Didn't that ability come from those only afflicted with who had touched the fog, and further, those who were bound by the nexus?

Christian had chosen to address Tabitha on the same thing, stating exactly what had gone through her thoughts. She stated that they said it was an ability that she was born with. So maybe her parents...? Maybe they had somehow come in contact with the fog without realizing it, and that the soul ability had not been activated until birth of a newborn?

Of course, he had chosen to think over the rest of his thoughts while the others for sleep, which had claimed the other three girls quickly as they slept in their beds, Christian choosing his normal place by the window.

The gears of fate were turning, it seemed.

**Some review responses: Shintouyu: Thanks for all your reviews, found it crazy when I realized that your the one writing up Zero's Noble Overlord. If you haven't read that shit, go now! It's probably my favourite crossover for ZnT! And oh yeah, about the whole narrative thing, yeah, got to work on that. But thanks for also mentioning the characters, that definently helps improve my view on how I need to ramp up the respect level between Louise and Christian. Hope I did that at least a bit better in this chapter, no longer dog-noble, but more equals if anything.**

**Lord Sigfry: Yeah apology on my behalf, I really I am not good explaining things too much (part of my issue with narrations to), so if your confused by anything, send me a PM (that goes to anyone really) and I'll try and clear that up. Might have a small chapter here and there dedicated to questions and answers if there's anyone confused about the story. And with my shitty explanation skills at times, there probably will.**

**Guest (x1): You'll likely be seeing the loot he has attained, not to mention possible exploration on his relation to the Chosen Undead (yes, I do know he might not actually be the Chosen one, but I'll refer to him as so since I'm no lore fanatic).**

**Guest (x2): The reason he hasn't attempted to break free yet of the runes hold is A: He has no reason to at the time being, and B: He actually hasn't looked into the powers of the rune. Trying to overwhelm the rune by pure force might end badly, so I would think that him reading up on what they are would be best before he starts experimenting.**

**Guest (x3): Thanks!**

**creeves59: I can now say that there will definitely be a use for the dragon form, and thanks for the crazy praise. While I don't think I'm that good of a writer, it's nice to see someone enjoys my work. I actually was reaaaally nervous about starting up writing a bit, only just to get away from some problems in reality. University, why you be so crazy? And yes, I am thinking of saving Mathilda, story arcs that can be opened are really interesting (both from Zero's Noble Overlord and Be Careful What you Wish for are great examples about what a little change can make in the long one.**

**Wetoos: Thanks!**

**asredwer: Thanks! And, if you can pick up from this chapter, Christian has discovered that the Old One might already be in this world, or at least has had some influence here in the past. This of course means that it could be re-awakened at anytime, a big ticking time bomb basically.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Demons Souls and Zero no Tsukaima belong to their respective owners, I own nothing! (Because if I did, I wouldn't be making fanfics of 'em)**

**Phantom of Zero**

**Chapter 8: Trouble with Count's**

_...Louise's dream..._

Louise listened to the sound of steel upon stone, clanking feet drawing her to the large wooden gate that sat silently above them, the place where it had once been now replaced by the cold, suffocating aura of the colorless fog. The mass constantly turned and shifted, Louise swearing that she could see a face or two lost inside every so often. She remained like this, motionless, feeling the strange welcoming feel of the fog.

She barely noticed the metallic gauntlets roaming through various pouches upon his waist. The hands finally brought out a small object, a black small flask. He brought his armored hand over the cap, carefully opening the bottle as to not break it. He unsheathed his sword, bringing it to bear in front of him with one hand while the other slowly drew the bottle over it.

A small trail of oozing liquid broke forth, gently cascading the sword in a gooey golden liquid. He did this once more with the other side, before he returned the small bottle to his pouch. Louise eyes bathed in ethereal glow the sword produced, before the man moved both hands to the hilt of the blade and brought it sharply across the earth.

Sparks danced as the blade raced across stone, eagerly leaping onto the blade. One moment a mere piece of steel, now doused in a blaze of glowing flames. He turned the blade silently, observing his handiwork before turning his armored head toward the large misty wall. Louise too, turned her eyes towards the towering gate, realizing what he was staring at.

Silence reigned as the armored being silently strode towards the murky fog, one hand reaching out to embrace the vapor like being. Louise found it strangely fascinating, watching as the fog eagerly embraced the limb, slowly beginning to pull the man in. As they walked through, the gate seemingly sucked away at their skin. It felt similar to the leeches that had once occupied the lake behind her house, but felt as if every bit of her skin was tingling, as if losing something as she walked through.

They finally made it through, what seemed like hours only a few seconds, proudly walking into a once grand hall.

Of course now, it was no longer as beautiful as it once had been. What was once an entrance to the great kingdom was filled with bodies of other unfortunate beings. Some were dressed in armor, others wearing only common clothing, all let to rot and decay, eyes staring blankly at the stone tomb around them. The smell filled her nostrils, resisting the urge to gag as she took in the rest of them room.

Small torches were place upon every pillar in the room, flickering to and fro in the light breeze. The walls were a dull brown, stone atop stones that were then covered by burnt banners. She could barely make out what could have once been a coat of arms.

She then gasped, realizing that the duo were not the only ones in the room. Her eyes took in the sight of numerous blob like creatures sifting about the floor, each holding the recognizable appearance as to the same that had killed he- no, whoever this man was before. Shields marked their fronts, bodies churning slowly as they turned to face the intruder.

Further along in the darkened hall, she could make out an even larger blob sitting upon the wall, slowly shifting down it and its top glowing a ghostly blue. It let out a horrible screech that rung through the stone walls, bouncing off each stone. The three dozen or so let out similar cries, each horrible garbled and distorted.

Their bodies engulfed themselves, jagged edges slowly pushing out of the bubbling hide as spears longer then the man himself began to form, falling along side their shields. It was something out of a story book, the troops lining up, preparing to charge at the enemy with spears and shields drawn in front of them.

She nervously gulped as she remembered just who they were facing down. She could even feel a sense of worry beneath the helmet, the mans head ablaze as he thought up a way out of this mess.

His track of thought was suddenly broken, the thirty or so spears flew in his general direction, the man falling to one knee and bringing his shield in front of his face. The one spear bounced off the shield, if he was any weaker he would have probably fallen over. But he stood strong, still kneeling as the tide of spears washed over him. Some followed the first example, striking against his shield with limited success, only pushing the man back slowly. Other slammed into the walls, easily piercing through the hardened stone and creating sizable dents in it.

The creatures let out another set of angry roars, the spears descending from their targets and sinking back into the cracks of stone, now filled with brown, bubbly liquid. The shield became coated with the liquid and it fell off with every slight movement. The ground was now full of a slick liquid, the steel leggings slipping around with every step before the man had managed to hide himself behind a pillar.

Ears beneath the fluted helm listened as another barrage shot through the air, impacting the walls around him. He took a peek out, fluted helm narrowly hidden behind the pillar as he and the ghostly Louise observed the larger blob farther back, which was now beginning to pulsate with energy. Louise looked on in amazement while the fluted helm sought safety behind the pillar once more.

And a second later, she found out why, as a large shockwave of the same blue energy shot out of the hill shaped creature, tearing through the two nearest pillars as if they were stacks of butter. Stone fell from the ceiling and smashed into the ground, smaller blobs sometimes completely crushed. Others were simply destroyed by the energy itself, becoming a mere stain on the floor.

The dust finally settled, Louise watching in horror as the large blob began to produce dozens more of the smaller legionnaires, which eagerly slopped towards the still hiding person. The man was still behind the pillar, clutching a glowing blue stone with all his might. The gauntlets squeezed the stone with all their might, before the armored being was baptized beneath a sea blue glow. Tendrils of energy shot forth from the stone into the swirling fog gate, which began to latch onto the blue wisps of energy.

Then, from the fog, figures slowly began to appear. What were once souls stuck in-between crossings jumped to life, stepping forth from the shifting mist. They were all dressed in similar armor to the still hiding man, with some exceptions. Three wore some intricate looking robes, while one other wore midnight black leather. All had a blue ghostly glow, their own eyes shining a dazzling white.

And then they too, let out their own war cries, desperate for freedom from the creature that had slayed them. The armored ones charged forth, crossing the distance between them and the horde of blobs in seconds, the sounds of battle beginning anew. Steel met reformed flesh as two different sides cashed against each other, the three robed beings producing small sticks that glowed with the flames of magic. The one dressed in the leather had produced a bow from somewhere and was providing covering support for them.

Bouts of flames suddenly divided the ranks of the blobs, the armored man from before having leapt through, covered in the mages flames as his blade cut through the enemies ranks with ease. His figure moved towards the larger blob, which summoned forth more energy to destroy him. The man merely ducked under the wave, listening to the sound of it smashing into those behind him.

Louise watched the battle from afar, still back at the large swirling fog as another explosion rocked the room, destroying both friend and foe. Blue phantoms descended to the ground in a blue haze before disappearing into the floor, blobs slammed into the ground and were pushed in-between cracks.

Through all this, she could somehow sense the sad smiles beneath their helms, happy that someone, in some place different then their own but closely the same had succeeded where they failed, the man plunging the still flaming blade into the blue glow of the shifting muck, that began to twist in agony as its very soul was consumed. The battle halted, both side stopping suddenly as time seemingly froze. The sounds of winds traveling through the mans armor was the only thing heard, before the blob disappeared, revealing him scathed and battered.

The blobs began to sink into the floor, their source of power now gone and causing them to close in on themselves, the only thing left of them being their former weapons. Phantoms silently disappeared into white mists, having returned to where ever they came from. A small stone appeared in the middle of the hall, Louise identifying it as the same she had seen earlier. He limped over to it slowly, the toll of the battle now beginning to come forth. His armor was dented and wrecked, the front plate completely torn off. The once shining armor was covered in blood and... whatever those things were made out of. He was slowly cascaded in the calm glow of the sword, hands reaching out to touch the air.

It was mesmerizing, what had been nothing one second had formed into a small sprite of energy, which rippled with each breath of the armored as he bore his eyes into it. Even from here, she could feel an overwhelming sense of power coming from it. The man continued staring at it for another moment, before slowly closing his hand and placing the small sprite into one of his many pockets, which began to radiate with light when he opened it.

With that done, his hand grasped the hilt of the twisted sword, before tugging on it, his being slowly absorbed by it and whisking him away. Louise, too, felt her body being pulled away. Whiteness sucked away the edges of her vision until the abyss embraced her, swallowing her back into the realm of reality.

_...back in reality..._

Louise tiredly opened her eyes, muscles aching in protest as she moved about in her sheets, soft ruffles accompanying every movement. She slowly pushed herself up on her elbows, noticing that it was still midnight. The moon shone brilliantly through the windows, illuminating Christian who sat upon the windowsill, his sword leaning on the opposite side.

He was staring off into the distance, overlooking the streets that ran through the district. She could hear the laughter below, the yelling and all of the sounds that accompanied nights in the city. It was probably something he had not heard in a long time.

She shuffled about in bed a bit more, listening to the chatter between the sword and Christian. They talked about themselves, and what they did before. She would've listened further, but she let out a small yawn that attracted the attention of the two.

"Ah... the little miss is awake? Have nice nap 'master'?" The sword rattled, clanking with each word said. She didn't miss on how the sword addressed her, and probably would have been enraged at it if not for the fact it was midnight. How dare that... that... poor mistake for a sword laugh at her!

Letting the swords strange chuckles die out in the wind, the room was once again filled with silence. Christian had an odd somber like look upon his face as he turned to address her.

"It's really beautiful from up here, isn't it?" He whispered, careful not to wake either Tabitha or Kirche. Louise had untangled herself from the bed sheet and lumbered over to the window. Her weary eyes took in the flashing lights of the city, the crowds below and the distant buildings. Drifting back to her dream, she remembered just why the man hadn't experienced anything like this in a long time.

It was a strange thought that flowed in her head, realizing that she took all of this for granted. Her life, her rights, everything. It was always right in her mind, nobles being above all else but as continued to see into Christians mind she realized how grateful she should really be.

That one day, everything she had could be gone, swept away in a tide of destruction. She'd be left with nothing if something like what happened in Christians world, and without any magic prowess she'd probably be one of the first to perish. She still couldn't wrap her head around just how he survived.

"Something wrong Louise?" Christian whispered once more, noticing her discomfort. Her arms wrapped around her torso as a cold breeze swam through the room. Christian leapt down from the small ledge, turning back and silently shutting the window. He grabbed the sheathe that contained Derflinger and crept over to the wooden table by the door. He sat down, not even making a squeak as he gave her a smile.

"I can tell you know," He said, gesturing to her. "Your more tense then usual." Louise sat down, slumping in the seat opposite of the man. A small sigh escaped her lips and she ran a hand over her tired face.

"The dreams... I had another..." She whispered through her hands, her mind still a mess. Christian only silently nodded, his eyes staring down at the wooden surface.

"What was it about this time?" He asked, wondering what she had witnessed this time. Depending on what she saw, it could possibly confirm that something was toying around in her dreams. He had no influence on the realm of dreams, so to speak, so why would she be seeing his past life?

It also irked him, that if she continued seeing his life she would also eventually see the events that would lead to him becoming broken, a former shell of what he once was. Even now, he was still bothered by getting to close to people. His own body shuddered, one of those events passing through the walls he had put up in his mind.

"There were... those blob creatures again. And there was this one, massive one too..." She began to explain, her arms moving erratically as she describe the creatures. Christian listened intently, noting every characteristic she mentioned. He remembered that in her last dream, one of those creatures killed her. It was almost exactly the first time he had went through the Boletarian Castle.

This time however, the description truly bothered him. There was no way that this was a simple coincidence. Something was definitely wrong here, his mind searching for any answers but producing nothing. Even with all his vast libraries worth of knowledge, he didn't know enough about it to really determine the cause.

It always bothered him, forced to do nothing while certain events continue anyways. If he had only tried harder...

"Christian?" He heard a meek voice call out, pushing him away from his thoughts and back into reality as he found Louise staring at him worriedly. A creaking was heard below him and he noticed his knuckles were nearly crushing the wood under their might, suddenly letting go when he realized what he was doing.

"Sorry..." He said, noticing she was still shivering, both from the winds and his near breaking of the table. Her eyes wearily descended, sleep still affecting her mind. Deciding to let the sleeping girl get some rest, he gestured over to the bed, which Louise nodded to.

"Talk in the morning?" He offered, which Louise only nodded to. He moved back to the window, silently picking up Derflinger and once again hopping up onto the ledge, staring out into the crowds below.

_...in the early morning skies..._

By the time had risen above the distant mountains, our group had already boarded Sylphid, drifting through the puffy clouds that sat in the sky. Christian had taken up discussing the soul arts, which of course attracted Tabitha's attention.

"So wait... the souls of the dead power your magic?" Louise said, Christian picking up a hint of dislike. He churned the words over in his minds for a few moments, before giving her an answer.

"Yes." Louise openly blanched at it, wondering just _how _people in his homeland were okay with this. Kirche gave no response, only furrowing her brows in thought while Tabitha remained her cool, calm persona.

"Use?" Tabitha said, still all business at the chance of mastering her paranoia.

"Well, let's see... there's standard magic, using common souls. Demon magic, using more powerful souls. These categories branch off into separate form of magic's." Christian said, once again beginning to explain the properties and usages of souls.

"First category would be the type I first learned, which is soul magic. This was the first type of magic to be discovered in my homeland, and was the most used by mages." Christian explained, Louise strangely relating his lesson to those of her own back at the academy.

Tabitha remained solely intent on the lesson, Sylphid already knowing her ways through the skies still guiding them towards the academy. Below them, a humongous forest stretched over the land, Louise identifying it as the path they had arrived from. She noticed Tabitha raise her hand and she turned back to Christian's "lesson".

"Usage?" Tabitha said once more, Christian's mind already moving onto solving the question.

"Ah, right. Typical use of this form of magic is typical burst forms of energy. Other uses include summoning an array of sometimes toxic clouds, bestowing magical qualities to physical weapons, fire magic, wards, and some other miscellaneous forms. I'll demonstrate further magic's and advanced forms later."

Tabitha only nodded as Christian continued, only to be interrupted by Kirche.

"Wait a minute!" Kirche yelled, nearly pushing Louise off the dragon as she neared Christian's arm once more, ignoring a growling Louise as she once more latched onto his arm.

"If you have all this _amazing _magic, then why do you keep swinging around that flimsy piece of steel?" She said, gesturing to the still hidden Derflinger with her foot. This prompted the apparent legendary sword to burst out of its sheathe in anger, or at least as much anger for a sword.

"Using my magic would likely attract too much attention, after all, it has never been seen here before. Besides, while magic may have its uses, I still prefer having some trusty steel between me and my enemy instead of a wooden stick." Christian answered, satisfying both the angry sword and the curious Kirche.

The explanations continued for another half a hour, before the group would finally touch down at the academy grounds. Here, they would find more trouble brewing...

_...elsewhere, along a dirt path..._

The carriage wheel bumped over another ditch, startling the still Siesta out of her thoughts. The wooden carriage squeaked with each of her movements, her eyes looking over the passing trees. The academy towers had already disappeared beneath the hills awhile ago, but she could now see a new building appearing in the distance.

_'The count's mansion...' _Her mind nervously thought, Siesta's stomach beginning to twist up.

_'There's no going back now...' _Her eyes threatened to spill tears once more, just like the night before. She shook her head, willing them away and taking a deep breath.

Oh, she knew what she was getting into. Everyone knew just how lecherous Count Mott really was, but no one could do anything to the royal messenger. She was told to avoid the man by other maids, since they had already seen what had happened to those who were taken in the 'service' of the count.

But she could pass up the opportunity, the amount of money from the job would greatly help her already poor family. She knew what her family would think, but she didn't care as long as they were alright.

Even if she would loose herself in the process...

_...academy hallways..._

Christian once again found himself roaming through the beautiful halls of the academy once more, Sylphid having flown back into the forest and the three girls off to lunch in the dining room.

Of course, being a demon god did not put the man above mere mortal needs. Beneath two plates of steel, one of stone, and one of dragon skin, his stomach began to growl. He had survived off of pure mana back in the nexus, the magical properties being able to sustain both body in mind serving him well in the hundred or so years he had been stuck there.

While he could likely do the same thing here, there was no way he was going to pass up some good old food. Even if it was just some leftovers from the nobles meals, _anything _was better then stale air. Because honestly, while he was never able to put a title on what pure magical energy tasted like, it was definently not very good.

So as he neared the kitchen, the different of aromas of food drifting beneath his helm nearly caused him to break the door off of its hinges. Slits took in the bustling crowd of cooks, flames, steam, and other cutlery as he moved to search for the head cook.

"Uh... Marteau?" He tentatively asked out, noticing how everyone seemed to shrink away from him. This only left one man in the clearing, and Christian noticed that Siesta had described him perfectly.

He was literally a bear, a head taller then Christian as he came to look down on the familiar. His arms were the size of his head, and Christian wondered just how the man had gotten such large muscles. Sure, Biorr's own muscles outclassed him, but Biorr thought that fighting dragons was a daily routine.

"Yes?" The man gruffly answered, sprinkling a multitude of spices on top of a sizzling meal.

"Siesta had said that if I ever needing a meal, you were the man to ask." Christian said, his mind noting how everyone had tensed up as he spoke the young maids name.

"Siesta... well, she was right about that. What do you want, lad?" Marteau answered once more, and gestured to the array of meals that lay around him.

Christian decided on a simple meal, one that satisfied his stomach and brought unwanted memories of home upon the man. He sifted through the memories of early morning meals, joyously laughing about something with his two brothers. His mother and father sat on opposite ends of the tables, smiles still gracing their features...

_'It was a lot more pretty then what we left them with, eh?' _His mind sneered once more at him, Christian wondering just why his own mind was so stirred against him.

_'Because your still so naive... haven't you realized it yet?' _Christians mind once more spoke to him, before slowly slinking back into whatever realm it hid in, leaving Christian to think about what he had said.

He shook his head, not wanting to think about his past, moving onto another topic.

"So just where is Siesta? I haven't seen her since before we left to go into town..." He trailed off, again noticing how tense the atmosphere had become once more. The hustling team began to slow down, each wishing the man would just stop mentioning her name.

Marteau only stopped again once more, slowly turning his head to view the armored familiar once more.

"She... she didn't tell you?" He asked, Christian only shaking his head at the mans question.

"Well.. alright then, take a seat lad, I got some explaining to do..." Marteau said once more, sinking onto a nearby stool which groaned in protest at the bear sized man. Christian remained poking at his meal as the man began to explain just what had happened to the maid.

_...roughly a dozen minutes later..._

Christian silently strode out of the kitchen later, causing some students to find a comfy spot on the wall as the man nearly bowled them over. While of course, most just feared what was under the armor, they would rather not find out themselves. Christian of course was silent on the outside, but fuming on the inside.

The whole plot of what happened once again brought up even more memories of home, an one of the maids he once actually liked. He had no time to think of that of course, since he was dead set on just finding his way to this 'Count Mott'.

From what Marteau had said, the count was some conniving man, who apparently had some influence with the higher ups. This prevented any actions from being taken on the man, who dwelled in some... irrespective acts with women.

Now, Christian was no saint of course. Hell, he had _murdered_ a saint, so he was pretty sure he was on the gods hit list. But one thing he detested was all sorts of evil. Even if he might be some incarnate of all mighty evil, that didn't mean he wouldn't let it run free.

So while his mind was currently in an uproar of whether or not to help the poor maid, he did notice a green hair of head collide with him.'

"Ack!" A feminine voice said as he landed awkwardly on top of her. The women in question he remembered from his first day here, her name being...

"Longueville?" He questioned, in response finding himself staring into emerald eyes.

"Christian?" Longueville asked, moving up only to find herself realizing just what position she was in. She nervously lowered her head back onto the stone, a blush beginning to form across her face.

She was rather thankful when he moved off of her, nearly leaping to her feet as the man stood up on his own.

"Sorry about that, but I was wondering if you knew where to find Count Mott?" Asked Christian, who was still sheepishly rubbing his head. Longueville, too, was nursing her forehead and turned to look at the man coldly when he mentioned the count.

"What business do you have with a man like him?" She spoke softly, though her eyes told another story. She had once stolen from the count while the man had been doing... things... to some of the other maids. It killed her inside to let her know what she left them to, but the situation was simply to dangerous to get involved in. So to hear that this man was seeking him out either meant she was wrong about his impression, or he asked about him for other reasons.

"He's apparently caused some trouble among the servers in the academy, and I seek to find some way to bargain with the man." Longueville nodded her head at this, and racked her head for the simplest of routes.

"You've been to town correct?" Longueville asked, which Christian nodded.

"Right then, just take that path for about two hours, you'll be able to see the counts mansion on the right side of the road. The cobblestone road will lead up to the mansion."

Christian only nodded once more, before sharply turning and walking away to the grasses of the courtyard. Longueville followed the man, stopping before the green grasses and watching the man disappear behind the stone walls, her soft whisper falling deaf among the breeze.

Christian had finally disappeared into the forest, glancing about once more to see if anyone was watching him. When he believed himself to be alone, his eyes closed beneath his helm, his body glowing momentarily before vanishing, small sparkles of light drifting idly towards the ground.

_...elsewhere, a forest near the mansion... _The very fabric of the universe was bent once more, Christian having flashed into existence what he believed to be roughly two hours away from the academy. If he was wrong, it would make little difference, since he only had to wait a bit to do long distance teleportation while his powers were weakened.

His eyes unknowingly drifted down to the rings that were littered around his fingers, before they drifted back to scanning the horizon of the area, before realizing that he could see something that would likely be considered a mansion in the distance.

So he set out beneath the crumbling sunlight, moving towards the mansion in hope of saving someone from an undeserving fate.

**A/N: Alrighty, finally ended this off at 4,807 words, I actually had to rewrite this a couple times, so you might find it a bit choppy. That's what kind of happened, since I didn't like how it flowed at this chapter for some reason. Other then that, I should be updating a bit more steady now, since I finally finished my testing this week, among a slew of homework.**

**Discussing what's in the chapter, another dream sequence from Christian's time. If your wondering just what the strange item he used to summon all those other folks, it was the Blue Eye Stone. In canon, it is used to summon other players for coop. Once again, kind of threw in some other stuff this time and changed it about, like I said before, things won't be entirely canon. Oh, and the boss faced in this sequence was Phalanx, and his little blob minions too.**

**A bit more interaction between the characters, mostly Christian further revealing things about his homeland. Also, if you notice, you'll see that Christian is severely troubled by his past, which will be further revealed as time goes on. We're also moving the story on a bit, still sticking to canon. Other then that, mostly filler sadly so my bad. But expect another update much sooner.**

**Other then that, we got review responses!**

**Poliamida: Thanks, and yeah, after re-reading the next day, I noticed those mistakes. Thanks for pointing 'em out, I'll get around soon enough to correcting those mistakes.**

**Shintouyu: Yup, this chapter too was mostly a bit more interaction between characters, just a bit of various things, mostly Christian's history though. I did notice that Tabitha was rather accepting of Christian's proposal, so my apology on that part. I'll probably go re-write that to at some point, just to flesh it out a bit more. Oh, and for Derflinger, I decided to have the two chat it up while the group was sleeping, so my bad for that. Once again should've noted that. Also, thanks for that honorary mention in your story, you have no idea how crazy that made me.**

**asredwer: Very interesting insight their actually. The whole Tabitha being touched by the arts actually plays very well on that view. Thanks once more for the review!**

**Wetoos: Thanks, and yeah, normally I catch these errors after someone tells me or I re-read it the next day. Sometimes they sneak through though.**

**creeves59: Haha, thanks. Also, yeah, let's hope university stops eating all my time up!**

**kira09: Yup indeed, it will. Thanks!**

**Chaos maker: As boss as that would sound, I'm probably going to have the whole soul usage stick to canon, being used for spells and weapons. Even though that would be mad cool.**

**Zikarn Krais: -long response incoming-**

**Alrighty, so for your first bit is how accepting he is. Honestly, in both games, the character is rather accepting of this path. In Demon's Souls, the character just willingly lets himself be summoned by the Maiden in Black. While you might say because the character is completely flat, we could also say that he has no better choice. Take Christian, for example, who has been stuck in a hole in the ground (literally) for a couple hundred years. He was only let out once, and then shoved back in. So of course, to first moment you jump to get at freedom, you'll take.**

**And to be honest, I don't see where I have made him "bow down". Sure, he might be accepting, but he doesn't in anyway view Louise as his master, if anything as equals. That's how Christian views things, since once again he had lots of time to form his views of things back in the Nexus. You can argue on this definently, but it's mostly just me viewing how someone would act, since you would have to be grateful to Louise for summoning you. I really think Christian massacring the local populace immediately afterwards would be pointless (Then again, just what I think really, opinion vs opinion and what not).**

**(No, we ain't done yet!)**

**Alright, second note is how you say it's a push to make Tabitha more like Christian. Don't mean to be an ass, but if you mean me making her into a 'wussie' (quote), then your completely wrong. The player character ingame is once again, your typical, silent, cold hero type. Yes, he's definently silent. Cold? Again, could be discussed. (I just view his actions ingame, eg, slaughtering Saint Astrea to be this). Christian has seen what exactly comes from hiding away from the world, and doesn't really want to see another person go through the same thing, especially a teenager. So yes, is it an author push. (Whatever that means, first timer here :p) Does it mean she's going to become a clone? Nope! Nowhere have I really indicated what she'll become, she could remain the same or change in some way. You'll have to see I guess.**

**On the wussie comment, yeah, I actually agree with you there. Christian is definently not some badass demon slaying machine, but he once was. Again, this relates to his past experiences, and someone in the game would have to experience countless acts of violence, cruelty, and etc. So you might think he could remain his cardboard blank self after that, but I did not. So while he might not want to fight, does not mean he won't. Again, you'll see more as the story continues on and his back-story fleshes out more.**

**So again, he's grateful to Louise for saving him from his prison. Not a slave (Though his soft actions might poke against that), just grateful. Not to mention, he did sense a familiar sort of power in her which is causing him to stick around, just to see what it is.**

**Also, on the note of the soul-carries, it's definently not a genetic thing. It's a sign in some way, but I'm not going to spoil it. Do note, that one of the reviews actually reflects on this (I think). But again, there has been no sign of any demon activity in this world, so Christian has not reason to run off in search of nothing. If a horde of demons came with his summoning, then yeah, Louise would be ignored. But for now, nope.**

**Again, feel free to leave another review in response, because that actually made me think about Christians character and definently helped.**

**If your wondering why I left that in, again, I leave it there just so everyone can see some of the answers I provided, since they may help the story along the way. No, it's not me trying to be some dick towards Zikarn Krais, but sorry if it sounds like I am. I just didn't want to be an arse towards him and ignore his review.**

**Okay, so other then the 1,147 word A/N (My bad, ranting woes), read, review, etc.**

**And again, please tell of any errors you find in my writing, since I had to re-write this chapter three time and some might have seeped through, or the flow might be a bit choppy.**

**I'll end it here now, thanks!**


End file.
